ontario ccednet conference june 8 th, 2011 jessica lax mary ferguson cathy lang social enterprise...
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ONTARIO CCEDNET CONFERENCEJUNE 8 T H , 2011
JESSICA LAXMARY FERGUSON
CATHY LANG
Social Enterprise Capacity Building
Cross Regional Learning
Agenda
VisioningSharing Experiences
Foundation for Rural Living Causeway Work Centre Pillar Non-Profit Network
Common Threads & CommentsSmall group discussionClosing – Harvesting Insights
Visioning
If money were no object what
would be the ideal way to
build capacity for social
enterprises in your community?
Rural Social Enterprise Project (RSEP)
RSEP Vision of Success
Long Term Vision
A more resilient non profit sector in ruralAccommodated employment and/or training
for hard to employ through rural non profit social enterprise
Purpose of RSEP Project
To build capacity in social enterprise development in rural constituencies through: Workshops Coaching consulting Peer networking Linkage to resources, SE sector and SE
“intermediaries”
Three Target Groups
Rural non-profit staff, volunteers, directors and social entrepreneurs
Project partners – regional CED organizations
Social enterprise development “intermediaries” SE funders, academics, capacity builders
Approach Summary
Developing Collaborative and Regional Partnerships
Developed a collaborative with FRL, C. Lang Consulting and Eko Nomos Co-applicants on Trillium grant with community
partnersDevelop working relationships with regional
CED partner organizations: Huron Business Centre, Perth Community Futures,
Waterloo Wellington CFDC, PARO in Ontario’s North) and one community of interest cluster
Aim to enhance local and regional capacity of all partners and collaborators and build case for rural SE supports
Getting Organized
Theory of ChangeLogic ModelEvaluation FrameworkProject Planning and Collaborative Team
DevelopmentCommunications Planning
Project Delivery
Workshops: SE Primer and Feasibility workshops Tailored consultations and referrals Peer networking and linkages to SE Sector
Consultations: Customized consultations with up to 50 organizations
Working with Intermediaries
Intermediary Strategy Targets
Started with focus on funders or prospective funders of social enterprise
Identified additional audiences including: Policy makers in a position to affect the funding
environment for SE in rural Ontario Academic researchers interested in SE and CED (e.g.
Carleton University CCCI) Social enterprise capacity builders in Ontario (e.g.
Pillar Non Profit, CISED) Rural Municipalities and Municipal Economic
Developers – Warden’s Caucus, ROMA, EDCO
Building Support for Rural SE
Activities include: Calls and ongoing collaboration with CISED and Pillar
Non Profit Involvement in June 7 meeting of SE researchers across
Canada Presentation at June 8 Regional CCEDNet Conference Outreach to specific academics researching SE in Ontario Share project learning with funders and prospective
funders Convene intermediary meeting with funders and
prospective funders Potential for follow on funding application to take project
work and partnership further
Partnership Development
Key project strategy: Regular Teleconference with Partners – 1 x month Regular Collaborative Team meetings – 1 x month Other calls as needed
Accomplishments to Date
Workshops
6 Primers Delivered (1 via web conference 5 on-site)
5 Feasibility Workshops (1 via web conference 4 on-site)
105 people registered; 92 people participated in workshops
Still to do – 3 part webinar series for up to 40 people
Profile of Participants
Even split between NFPs and Charities; few unincorporated groups and social entrepreneurs
Good diversity in terms of organizational focusMajority of registrants were Directors, followed
by program managers; directors and volunteers wore “many hats”
Majority of organizations were small to mid size ($100,000 - $500,000 budget – 27%), though large and very small organizations were present
50% had some knowledge of SE, but 22% had no knowledge at all
Consultations
30 of 50 projects have been approved for the consultations
Several other projects are still being considered
Consultation applications still be accepted
Working Well
Relationship with community partnersTesting of different technologies for distance
and cross regional capacity building – video conferencing, conference calls, webinars
Project planning and evaluation/documentation – on course
Connections of partners to local NFP community – different in each region
Challenges
Language of social enterprise not resonating with groups that could use support
Early stage work with vulnerable organizations
Identified need for employment alternatives for underemployed rural folks
Lack of seed funding for SE exploration and development
Going Forward
Complete webinar series in JuneComplete consultation over the summerComplete intermediary strategy before
OctoberHave 2 – 3 learning sessions to assess results
and document learning for publicationCommunicate learning with key audiencesExplore potential for follow on work to
address gaps and needs – possible joint application to Trillium
EXPERIENCES FROM OTTAWA
CISED
Collaborative for Innovative Social Enterprise Development
24
Vanier Community Services
Vision
Thriving SE sector
Continuum of supports for SE’s
Technical assistance, $$$, strong networks
Technical Assistance
SE 101 workshop series
Subsidized legal, financial, and
marketing expertsFree business
coachingStudent Projects
Starting SROI analysis with Carleton U
Financial Assistance
Starting to offer business plan development
grantsWorking on low interest loans to
scale up
Strong NetworkMonthly events:
i.e. Tour of Groupe Convex
Crowdfunding for SE’s, Legal Issues for
SE’s, Social Finance 101
Cross Sector relationship building
Accomplishments 2009-2011
31 organizations have taken the SE 101 workshop
7 well attended events held for SE’s16 SE’s have accessed one on one business
coaching11 student projects requested, 2 completed
(market research & video development)3 social enterprises have worked with
Carleton to analyze their SROI$20,000 secured for pilot business
development grants
Lessons Learned
Network building events and workshops
successfully filled a knowledge gap and
created sector connections
Lack of money made take-up of SE very
slow Student connections,
and Social Purchasing Portal imbalanced effort
compared to benefit
Going Forward
Minimizing student projects
Continuing other
supports
Increasing SROI
analysis - creating
prospectus’
ENP Ottawa? funding business
development
Increase Visibility -
Social Enterprise Dragons
Den?
EXPERIENCES FROM LONDON ONTARIO
Social Enterprises for Creative and Sustainable
Communities
Social Enterprise for Creative & Sustainable Communities
Also Trillium fundedStarted in March
20113 community
partners CISED and Sarnia
Community Roundtable as learning partners
Approach
Preparing to offer workshop series in the fallStarting monthly Social Enterprise Exchange
gatheringsPreparing to offer one on one coachingLaunching Pillar Consulting Group for SE and
nonprofit needsCommunity case studies by Ivey on creating
SE support systems
Learning Outcomes:
IN THE THREE COMMUNITIES
CISED in Ottawa
London – Pillar Project
Sarnia Community Roundtable
Common Threads and Connections
Origin of program materials from same root – TEF, Eko Nomos and C. Lang Consulting
Role of United Way importantPlace based approachRegional partnership developmentCommitment to learning, inter-regional
sharing and joint strategiesMix of workshops to large groups and one on
one coachingImportance of available seed funding
Small Group Discussions
1. What from these models is applicable in your community?
2. What differences, if any, should there be between rural and urban support of social enterprise?
3. What other SE capacity building models are out there (in Ontario and around the world)? How are they different from those presented and what can we learn from them?
4. How useful, if at all, would collaboration be between all of the different SE capacity building projects? What shape could this take?
Harvesting Insights
What is one insight from this session that you will take
away?
More info
[email protected]. Lang Consulting
www.ekonomos.com [email protected]
www.cised.ca [email protected]
www.pillarnonprofit.ca [email protected]