Social Enterprise

The Social Enterprise Alliance is a trade association in the United States of non-profits engaged in mission-oriented business. It has hosted a number of “national gathering” conferences and maintains a listserv of over 1,000 non-profit social enterprise practitioners. Read more about Social Enterprise Alliance...

Rolfe Larson Associates is a consulting firm that helps nonprofits generate more earned income by increasing profits from current activities, launching a new venture, or something in between. Areas of consulting work include: assessing organizational readiness, brainstorming and screening venture ideas, feasibility analysis, developing business plans, and plan implementation. Read more about Rolfe Larson Associates...

New Profit Inc. provides financial and strategic support for nonprofits focusing on long-term impact on the social mobility of low-income families through education, workforce development, and public health. The organization attempts to build bridges between social entrepreneurs, government officials, business leaders, and the nonprofit sector to develop new ideas and share resources. Read more about New Profit, Inc....

NCNE connects academic researchers, business leaders, consultants and nonprofit practitioners to provide educational activities and services that address economic and business decision-making issues facing the nonprofit sector. Read more about National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise...

Seeking to further the field of social entrepreneurship, Echoing Green invests and supports social entrepreneurs that it believes have strong potential but are untested. Each year, Echoing Green awards 12-15 two-year fellowships ($60,000 for individual applicants, $90,000 for partnerships) through a competitive process and provides them with technical assistance and consultations to help them succeed. To date, the organization has provided more than $28 million in seed funding to more than 470 social entrepreneurs and their organizations. Read more about Echoing Green...

The America Forward is a coalition that aims to advance a policy agenda to create an infrastructure for social enterprise. The group includes more than 60 nonprofit organizations with programs operating in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Together, these groups serve more than 10 million people a year and have a collective budget of more than $400 million. Read more about America Forward...

Based in Prince George's County, Maryland, Melwood has become one of the nation's leading social enterprises, providing custodial and janitorial, landscape and horticultural, facility management, and recycling services to government and private customers.  Melwood has grown into a $87 million organization (with earned income contributing 86 percent of its overall budget) that provides job training, employment, housing, and recreation to more than 1,900 people with disabilities. Read more about Melwood (Upper Marlboro, Maryland)...

Founded in 1992 to create a neutral forum to bring together leaders from business, labor, government, the universities, and the non-profit sector, Joint Venture aims to think outside the box and build creative solutions. Among its efforts in 2006 the group has taken a leadership role to develop a multi-city wireless network that would provide free or low cost broadband access to a 1,500 square mile area encompassing San Jose and nearly 40 other cities. Read more about Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network...

Established by the nonprofit North Grand Neighborhood Services, Angel Baked Cookies is a social enterprise that empowers youth through employment, training, and personal development.  Since its launch in 2007, the enterprise has employed over 20 youth, who bake, market, and sell freshly made cookies across the St. Louis region.