As I discussed last week, our School for Social Entrepreneurs went to the Sydney CBD, the Westpac Building in Martin Place, for this week's session. We met with representatives from Perpetual Foundation , Philanthropy Australia and Westpac Foundation to discover all there is to know about applying for social enterprise funding. Unfortunately, the Canberra fog delayed my arrival by 6 hours and I missed the first session. I was able to catch the second session, the Westpac one.
The outstanding lesson I learned in that time is this one -- these funders are not necessarily huge institutions looking to distribute funds "from up on high". Rather, these are real people who are emotionally moved by the social welfare needs of people around Australia and the world. And they are moved by stories which entrepreneurs tell about their projects. In fact, we were encouraged not just to tell our stories but to connect with these people personally, yes one-on-one, who are in this place of decision-making. I was encouraged by this new found understanding. I am now motivated even more to tell my/our story (the stories at NationsHeart are certainly moving!) in different ways and through different mediums. Perhaps, now, even to start to collect or compile such stories that will become "our story" through the journey which is NationsHeart Connect.
Let me share another lesson I learned during our Westpac time. The representative from Westpac told us they support Social Enterprises around Australia with funding. We we told that Westpac takes a broad understanding of social enterprise, I think Westpac is saying that they are ready to support most social projects which have viability. This differs from my view of social enterprise which goes further than requiring viability but requires independent sustainability from within the enterprise.
Let me see if I can explain this.
To me, social projects are programs which are designed and run to meet needs within the community. These projects require resources outside themselves for initiation and for continuation despite, perhaps, the project generating some kind of income through trade. At NationsHeart we operate a number of social projects which are meeting needs of our community people and which create some profits but certainly not enough to continue without outside support.
I take a more narrow view of social enterprise. Like social projects, social enterprises exist for the benefit of society. Social businesses, like social projects, may need to call upon outside financial assistance (grants, loans and in-kind support) to start-up the business or to invest in capital. But the goal of social enterprise is, on the basis of a business model, to become financially and organisationally self-sustaining; even profit making. This requires a cogent business plan, a supportive client base, a viable market place and a stable governance.
While I understand that there are different views and definitions of social enterprise, I continue to believe that we need to distinguish between these two methods or strategies for meeting needs within our communities. It is my opinion that the community service sector requires both of these arms, the social projects and the social enterprises, to provide a full spectrum of care to close the gaps which exist in society. And while I encourage the support of social projects from major funders, I would also like to see clear and ongoing support of those who, like us, are working to establish social enterprises in the narrow sense of the word.
Ronaldo
27/06/09
Perpetual Foundation
Philanthropy Australia
Westpac Foundation
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