[Opportunity] Executive Director - BC Technology Social Venture Partners

Interested in technology? Interested in civil society? See areas of mutual benefit? This opportunity with BC Technology Social Venture Partners might further tickle that interest.

BC Technology Social Venture Partners is a network of "BC technology entrepreneurs who leverage their time, money, and connections to help non-profits reach sustainability and scale".

The five year old organisation currently seeks

"a strong, relationship oriented executive director with experience in both the business and non-profit / philanthropic world to continue driving our innovative approach to grant making while increasing our profile in the community"

For those interested ...

Responsibilities:

• Grants Delivery and Capacity Building: ensure inflow of high quality non-profits and support the delivery of grants + time commitments from our partners


• Partner Management and Engagement: recruit, connect, and maintain relationships with our 70+ partners from the BC technology community


• Community and Communications: increase our profile and that of our partners within the community, the media, and within key national initiatives


• Fundraising: support the board to grow our endowment, build co-granting relationships with other funders, and access additional sources of capital to support our grantee pool


• Administration: manage day to day finance and administration of our small charitable organization

The first two represent the SVP difference in the philanthropic world: connecting our high capacity partner volunteers to appropriate, transformative engagements with our grantees; and a deep understanding of what makes non-profits successful and working in partnership to help them get there. Bridging these two worlds is the magic behind our organization and the critical success factor for this position.

Qualifications:

• This is a senior position leading an entrepreneurial, results oriented, and fast-paced organization that is poised for further growth.


• Deep knowledge of and relationships within the non-profit sector, especially social enterprise and innovative charitable models, and experience helping them become more successful


• Experience with private sector engagement, technology industry preferred


• Experience on the grant-making side of philanthropy preferred


• Proven results as a high capacity, results-oriented leader


• Top-notch communications, presentation, and listening skills


• Ability to advance our brand and maintain our unique culture amidst numerous partnership opportunities


• Experience with non-profit management, board relations, and fundraising


• Comfort with a fast paced, tight operation, and managing multiple priorities

For more information visit: http://www.bctsvp.com/. Please send resume and cover letter in confidence to Jason Mogus, hiring committee chair.

Deadline: July 31, 2007
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver United Kingdom United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, BCTSVP

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Heroes from a Small Planet

The PBS programme Frontline/WORLD, has been a great platform for the Skoll Foundation to draw attention to global social entrepreneurs.

The partnership has evolved to create enough material to warrant a film festival this coming Monday, June 25th, from 6-10 PM at the Delancey Street Screening Room - that's in San Francisco.

The film festival has been referenced by enterprise evangelist Guy Kawasaki and Britt Bravo. Just to name drop and convey the scope of audience appeal.

Britt's post offers some juicy details of the live event in San Francisco ...

Not only will they be showing the films, but they will have also have panels with some of the shows' reporters and social entrepreneurs like Trevor Field, co-founder of PlayPumps International (water pumps powered by children's play), Luis Szaran, founder of Sonidos de la Tierra (they use music in their work with impoverished children), Matt Flannery, co-founder of Kiva (they allow regular people like you and me to make microloans online), Stacey Warner, Program Director of Room to Read (they build libraries in the "emerging" world), and Bart Weetjens, co-founder of APOPO (they use rats to find landmines).

Skoll is also working with PBS NOW to air social enterprise segments as part of Skoll's committment at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative.
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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver | United Kingdom | United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Enterprise, Nonprofit, Skoll

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[Opinion] "Stick to the thing that you know." "Business is hard." - Sure. And?

In the Giving Back column of the Wall Street Journal, Ben Casselman wrote Why 'Social Enterprise' Rarely Works, and he seems to have caused a stir. Good for Ben! If you have a bone to pick with Ben ... here's one way to reach out ... givingback@wsj.com.

The item closes with the following:

Ms. Beinhacker [President of New Capital Consulting] says there's a lesson in such failures: "Stick to the thing that you know," she says. "Business is hard."

Ben isn't particularly insightful. After all most enterprises fail. Wander the Cambie corridor for some current business examples and CRA Charities Directorate for examples in the nonprofit world.

That being said, Ben's source document, SeedCo's report The Limits of Social Enterprise is worth a read.

From the Introduction:

In many respects, the social enterprise revolution has been a great success: It has fostered an emphasis among nonprofits on achieving measurable results for clients; it has encouraged sound financial planning and fiscal responsibility. It has made many organizations more dynamic, more innovative, more efficient, and more effective.

But the field has been prone to extremes. In a zest to take social enterprise to the limit, some have emphasized starting businesses as vehicles by which to both earn money to support mission-driven work and as new tools with which to address social problems, and even as magic bullets with which to achieve both aims at once.

This report embraces the broad notion of social enterprise as flexible and entrepreneurial entities, but it raises cautions about the more specific notion of nonprofits operating businesses.

The document offers seven questions that are worth exploring if you're starting a social purpose enterprise.

Before you start a social purpose business:

What is your primary reason for starting a business—to generate income, or to fill a social need? Choose one, and then follow the relevant steps below.

STARTING A BUSINESS TO EARN INCOME
1. Identify a genuine need or desire in an area where your organization’s primary work or infrastructure gives you an advantage over for-profit competitors in the marketplace.

2. Assess as specifically as possible what your target customers want in a product or service of this type—and how much they would be willing to pay for it.

3. Determine whether your organization is equipped to profitably provide what your potential customers want.

4. Decide whether your organization is willing to provide the product or service in the way the market desires it, and whether doing so falls within the organization’s mission and mandate.

5. Explore how your organization would fund and sustain such a venture during its start-up phase.

6. Evaluate whether starting the business you have envisioned is truly the best use of your organization’s financial and human resources.

7. Consider whether an equal amount of income could be generated with less investment of time and/or money. Consider how starting and running a business would change your organization’s culture and community, and what impact it might have on your mission.

Take a look at the other set of seven questions for starting a business to fill a "social need" on page 15.

And one "take away" ...

LESSON: Nonprofit programs may be hope-oriented, rather than goal-oriented. Businesses, even those with a social purpose, must be realistic, rather than idealistic, in order to succeed.

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Interested in learning more about social enterprise? Take a browse through the Vancouver Social Enterprise Book Store (Vancouver United Kingdom United States) and see what other social entrepreneurs recommend reading.

Tags for information about: for:vsef, Social Economy, Nonprofit, TechSoup

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[City Within] Your Super 8mm Camera Greatly Appreciated

City Within has benefited from plenty of good will. The offers of expertise and services have been humbling. Thank you.

So we're OK sharing this request for Super 8mm cameras - we're trying Craigslist. Here's how the ad reads:

City Within - a project of the Vancouver Social Enterprise Forum - is looking
for donations of functional super 8 mm cameras. Your camera will be part of a
community dialogue project that we hope will capture the transformative power
of art.

Thank you for looking in your attics, basements, and spare rooms for those old
cameras.

Feel free to reply to this post if you have questions.

Thank you

Simple. To the point. We'll let you know when we're get a reply.
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Tags for information about: for:vsef, Citizen Film, Film, Civil Society

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