Social Enterprise Network

Social enterprise is a hot topic. However, it's not new, and many nonprofits are already successfully implementing this earned income strategy.

To support Minnesota's social entrepreneurs, Nonprofits Assistance Fund and MAP for Nonprofits have launched the Social Enterprise Network.

A Peer Group to Strengthen & Support Social entrepreneurs

The Social Enterprise Network is designed for nonprofit organizational leaders who are current practitioners in social enterprise. The conversations will focus on sharpening the management of existing social enterprises and building organizational cultures to support those enterprises. Participants will exchange tools and knowledge that will help each other advance their social enterprises.

What Is It?

The Social Enterprise Network is a peer group to strengthen and support social entrepreneurs.  It meets every other month on the second Thursday from 12:00-1:30pm.  

The goals of the Social Enterprise Network are to help Minnesota social enterprise practitioners:

  • Expand their knowledge
  • Scale up their activities
  • Develop a network of peers

Each month the group will meet to discuss a specific topic at a different local social enterprise. The host will share information about their nonprofit social enterprise and help lead the peer discussion. Learn more about the upcoming networks.

Just bring your lunch, your business cards, and your experience as a social entrepreneur.

2010 Network Series

July: Social Enterprise Roundtable

Location: Nonprofits Assistance Fund
Date: Thursday, July 8th
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

What policy and system wide initiatives do social enterprises need to be successful? How can the Social Enterprise Network serve as a forum to build connections to help you and your ventures thrive? What's needed to build infrastructure for social enterprise in Minnesota?

During this conversation, we will discuss ideas for local and statewide policy, access to new markets, and other ideas from participating social enterprises. We'll leave the conversation with plans to support one another in our work.

Register for this event.

Highlights from recent networks

Read notes from previous discussions in the Network Archive.

Future Social enterprise Networks

Do you want to a host a Network?  Do you have a topic for our group to discuss? Email your ideas to Ashley.

When: Second Thursday of every other month, 12:00-1:30pm. The network runs from noon - 1:00 pm, but we invite participants to stay and continue networking until 1:30. 

These meetings are free and open to any nonprofit social entrepreneurs. Please RSVP with Nonprofits Assistance Fund.

The Social Enterprise Network is jointly hosted by Nonprofits Assistance Fund and MAP for Nonprofits

Get LinkedIn

We have created a LinkedIn Group for participants in the Social Enterprise Network. Use this tool to take our network to the next step - pose questions, share resources, and reinforce connections with other nonprofit social entrepreneurs.

Interested in Learning More? 

Resources for nonprofit Social Entrepreneurs

Social Enterprise Summit and World Forum, April 28-20 in San Francisco

The Summit is the annual signature event of the Social Enterprise Alliance, the largest membership organization for social entrepreneurs in North America. It will be conducted this year jointly with the 3rd Social Enterprise World Forum, which is rotating among five continents during a five-year period. More than 600 people are expected to attend from across the globe.

The theme of the 2010 Summit/World Forum is "New Approach, New Economy: Realizing the Potential of Social Enterprise." Fifty workshops will explore the keys to entrepreneurial success, and five tours will visit 18 social enterprises in the Bay Area. The workshops will be clustered into five tracks focusing on finance, business strategies, public policy, leadership development, and communications strategies.

Attendees will include social enterprises from both the nonprofit and private sectors, plus social investors, academics and others. A large contingent of young people will also be participating as observers to capitalize on the surging interest in social enterprise among high school, college and graduate students.

For complete details about the Summit/World Forum, please visit www.se-alliance.org/summit.cfm. Online registration closes April 16, but people can also register in person at the Summit itself. Find out more about the event and what it offer to nonprofit social entrepreneurs.

Learn More

Introductions to Social Enterprise

The Social Enterprise Network is a peer network, designed to provide practical tools for operating a social enterprise.  For an introduction to social enterprise, there are many useful resources, publications, and training:

Examples of Nonprofit Social Enterprises in Minnesota