 A
high-impact model for global social change
Since 1995, we have been testing a new model of proactive,
strategic philanthropy. In 2000, we founded Social Profit
Network (SPN) to seek out and engage with proven social entrepreneurs
like Anil Chitrakar and David Green, advise them on strategy
and structure, give them seed funding, and then connect them
with philanthropic entrepreneurs—individuals who want
to invest their resources (money, connections, skills, knowledge)
in high-impact, economically sustainable, socially profitable
projects. We have had enormous success with this model to
date and are ready to scale it.
To do that, we are creating a small, peer-based network
of committed social entrepreneurs and philanthropic entrepreneurs
who can help us establish the SPN model as a catalyst for
change in the world, guide its direction, and fuel its growth.
We’re calling this group the Self-Starters Group. Our
goal is to create a core team of people capable of developing
the capital, market principles, and actual marketplace that
will enable individual projects to become self-sustaining
and, as a result, high-impact. In the immediate term, we
want to enable some of our best social entrepreneurs to significantly
scale their projects, and to encourage and enable others
to replicate them.
Social entrepreneurs have proven solutions for social problems
The social entrepreneurs with whom we engage have developed
sustainable (self-supporting) solutions to issues facing
their communities—and, in many cases, issues facing
the world at large. They have solid business plans and proven
capabilities.
SPN’s major priority is to free these social entrepreneurs
from the burden of fundraising so that they can focus on
making their solutions self-sustaining, scalable, and replicable—and
focus on launching other world-changing ideas.
How SPN works with social entrepreneurs
The way we work with social entrepreneurs is markedly different
from conventional philanthropy—and even new models
of social venture funding:
- We proactively partner with best-in-class social entrepreneurs
who have proven solutions and are strongly recommended
by other social entrepreneurs with whom we work. Therefore,
we begin our relationship with a high level of trust.
- After initial research and evaluation, we have one-on-one
discussions about their goals and needs, identifying the
ways
in which SPN can help.
- We act immediately. We collaborate on defining strategies;
we write checks; we advise. And we connect social entrepreneurs
with philanthropic entrepreneurs, as well as other resources
in the network—business strategists, legal counsel,
communications experts, and so forth.
In essence, SPN provides proven social entrepreneurs with
capital and connections to key resources as quickly as possible
and with as little bureaucracy as possible. For more about
how we’ve partnered with social entrepreneurs, see
our case studies.
Philanthropic entrepreneurs help bring
these solutions to life
Similarly, SPN engages philanthropic entrepreneurs. These
are individuals who, like the founders of SPN, have resources—capital,
professional skills, contacts—that they want to use
to speed positive world change. We work with people who like
expediency, avoid bureaucracy, and want to have a personal
impact on world issues. Many philanthropic entrepreneurs
have been successful entrepreneurs in the business world
and are looking to bring their entrepreneurial philosophy,
business rigor, and sheer excitement to the social sector.
Often, they are action-oriented individuals who are frustrated
by the inefficiencies and lack of significant impact inherent
in traditional philanthropy. Philanthropic entrepreneurs
want to see real change happen rapidly.
Scaling SPN through the Self-Starters
Group
To scale our model, we need to attract more social entrepreneurs,
philanthropic entrepreneurs, and other supportive resources
to SPN. We think that the best way to do that is by creating
a core group of the very best social entrepreneurs and philanthropic
entrepreneurs to:
- Enable our current projects to go to scale by eliminating
the major barrier that limits their growth and impact:
lack of capital
- Publish articles and case studies that spread knowledge,
thereby enabling others to get involved or replicate the
model
- Continue building an economically efficient and self-sustaining
infrastructure that will enable best practices to be shared
more easily, make resources readily available, and speed
the network’s growth.
- Create an open Internet-based marketplace for social
entrepreneurs and philanthropic entrepreneurs to connect
and solve world issues together
- Identify pressing, currently unaddressed community and
world issues and leverage our collective resources to solve
them
We are reaching out to a handful of individuals—both
social entrepreneurs and philanthropic entrepreneurs that
we think would be interested in adding value to this peer-based
group. We hope you will join us.
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SPN defines social entrepreneurs
as individuals from around the world who have solutions
to social and environmental issues facing the planet.
They combine the passion of a social mission with business
rigor, innovation, and determination to make self-sustaining,
scalable, and replicable solutions for community and
world issues.
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“If a nonprofit’s
project is successful, the organization then has to
go back for more money. This is the design flaw of
the whole nonprofit system. Instead, the system should
be designed to be profitable so that each successful
project can not only scale but fund the next big idea.”
— Anil
Chitrakar
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To learn more about SPN social entrepreneurs
and how we work with them, have a look at our case
studies.
more ››
SPN Overview
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