Giving Doctor - Social Enterprises

Q: I’ve heard a bit about social enterprises but I don’t really know what they are. Should I be trying to support them?

Around the world, there are an increasing number of entrepreneurial people (known as “social entrepreneurs”) creating businesses that trade to fulfill a social mission. These businesses or organisations are known as social enterprises.

MOTIVATING FACTORS

Sometimes, entrenched problems call for creative solutions. For example, when an inequitable system leaves people homeless, dependent on charity and refuges, without the means to support their families, opportunities exist to launch creative ideas that promote pattern-breaking change.

DIFFERENT MISSIONS - COMMON VALUES

Social enterprises all have different, explicit social missions such as training, job creation or the provision of local services. But they all have common ethical values including a commitment to building a fairer and more sustainable world. They are conscious of being accountable to their members and/or the wider community for their social, environmental and economic impact.

BUSINESS MODELS – NOT-FOR-PROFIT OR FOR PROFIT

Business models vary, but social enterprises are all directly involved in producing goods or providing services across a range of industries. The business model for a social enterprise depends on what best suits its social mission. A social enterprise can be membership-based, not-for-profit or profit driven, where at least some of the returns are re-invested into the social mission. This kind of social enterprise welcomes support but seeks to be an independent, viable business or trading organisation.

SOCIAL TRADERS

Social Traders is an independent, Victorian-based, social enterprise development agency that was launched in June 2009 to facilitate, support and advocate for the development of social enterprise in Australia. It is the result of a joint investment by the Victorian Government and a philanthropic foundation.

The Social Traders website is an invaluable portal that provides links to a range of resources including a list of social enterprise and mainstream business supports. It also outlines case studies on social enterprises across Australia.

“S ignificant progress was made during 2009-10 on building on the foundations established in Social Traders’ first year of operation,” managing director David Brooks says. He is excited about the key activities and initiatives undertaken by the organisation which include:

•  Co-hosting the Second Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF ’09) in Melbourne, which attracted over 600 delegates from 28 countries.

•  The design and development of The Crunch. Based on the Spark Challenge from the UK, The Crunch will be run as a competition to turn innovative ideas into sustainable social enterprises.

•  The launch of the Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector (FASES) research project, a joint initiative of Social Traders and the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which identifies the scope of social enterprise activity across Australia for the first time.

“Based on this research and the previous findings of the Giving Australia project, it is estimated that there are up to 20,000 Australian Social Enterprises,” Queensland University of Technology associate professor Jo Barraket says. “The research indicates that the Australian social enterprise sector is mature and sustainable and operates in every industry sector of the Australian economy.”

David says that work has recently commenced on a number of other important projects including:

•  Development of the Social Enterprise Finder (flowing from the FASES project), an online directory of social enterprises around Australia.

•  Development of a tailored business planning tool specifically for social enterprises.

•  The Building Social Enterprise Trading Turnover project, which will involve working closely with six to eight social enterprises in Victoria to build their trading capabilities and increase sales revenue.

►R EAD THE FASES RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT

SUPPORTING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

Some social enterprises are well known, like the thousands of op shops across the country. Others are less visible, but worthy of support.

Pursue a socially-driven mission by creating a social enterprise lifestyle:

EAT

Kinfolk Café is a new not-for-profit cafe in Melbourne that asks customers to put a coffee bean in one of four jars to show their support for a project. Kinfolk donates funds according to the share of beans across the jars. Their current causes include: a local food project for the homeless; an indigenous education program; and two causes for children in Rwanda and Ghana. For something a little more fancy , head out to Jamie Oliver’s successful social enterprise, restaurant Fifteen.

DRINK

The profit from every bottle of Thankyou Water purchased provides clean drinking water for one person in a developing country for at least one month. The Thankyou Water mission is to be a catalyst for change in the bottled water industry, by finding solutions for the water crisis in developing nations.

Or if coffee is your thing, look out for a Mars Hill Espresso Cart. Kevin Crouse of Mars Hill Café has won Federal Government funding to launch the carts in Parramatta, Sydney. The aim is to run a sustainable business that provides employment, job skills, life skills and mentoring to local youth and young adults in the Parramatta area.

WEAR

Look inspired in clothing from The Social Studio clothing range.

Launched in December 2009, The Social Studio collects recycled and excess materials gathered from local industry and creates a range of clothing from the style and skills of the young refugee community. The clothes will be sold in specially designed mobile shopping carts in key urban spaces to promote social inclusion, community and vitality.

DECORATE

Spruce up your home with furniture and other affordable household items purchased from your local op shop. Proceeds from the sale of donated stock go directly towards a great cause such as providing food, resources and support to local people in need.

READ

The Big Issue is a fortnightly, independent magazine sold by vendors who come from a range of backgrounds including mental illness, homelessness, long-term unemployment, intellectual and physical disability, drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown and others suffering from social isolation, such as refugees. The vendors purchase the magazine for $2.50 from The Big Issue and sell it on the street for $5, keeping the difference.

COMMISSION

Commission a logo or a poster. Red Cockatoo works closely with Aboriginal artists to commission design work for organisations and individuals. Red Cockatoo is a growing social enterprise based in the Blue Mountains, NSW. They also work closely with artists in Aboriginal communities across Australia to produce the first environmentally friendly Aboriginal art gift cards.

INVEST

Social investors are needed to financially kick-start a new social enterprise, a bar called Shebeen. The unique concept is that the Melbourne bar will serve e xotic beers and wines from the developing world and profits from each drink sale will support a development project in that drink's country of origin. For example, drink a Sri Lankan beer and you will be supporting Sri Lankan development projects. Founders Simon Griffiths and Zanna McComish plan to use Shebeen as a training ground for low-skilled immigrants and refugees. They are seeking to raise $250,000 that they believe could be turned into $500,000 - $800,000 for the projects, within three years. Click on the “Cough up” link on the website to contribute.

BUY

Soon you should be able to buy Who Gives A Crap environmentally sustainable toilet paper. All the profits will be donated to environmental projects in Australia, and water sanitation projects in the developing world. Who Gives A Crap TM , is being established by serial social entrepreneur, Simon Griffiths (see Shebeen , above) and business partner Jehan Ratnatunga . Together, they want to “use their skills and knowledge from the corporate, development aid and economics worlds to add some flavour to Australia’s growing social enterprise sector”. They recently won a global pitching competition that secured them a place at the Unreasonable Institute in Colorado for 10 weeks. There, they will have access to expertise, seed capital and the opportunity to pitch to more than 200 investors and philanthropists.