ONTARIO CCEDNET CONFERENCE JUNE 8 TH, 2011 JESSICA LAX MARY FERGUSON CATHY LANG Social Enterprise Capacity Building Cross Regional Learning

Agenda Visioning Sharing Experiences  Foundation for Rural Living  Causeway Work Centre  Pillar Non-Profit Network Common Threads & Comments Small group discussion Closing – 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 rural Accommodated 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 partners Develop 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 Change Logic Model Evaluation Framework Project Planning and Collaborative Team Development Communications 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 focus Majority 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 partners Testing 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 June Complete consultation over the summer Complete intermediary strategy before October Have 2 – 3 learning sessions to assess results and document learning for publication Communicate learning with key audiences Explore 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 experts Free business coaching Student Projects Starting SROI analysis with Carleton U Financial Assistance Starting to offer business plan development grants Working on low interest loans to scale up Strong Network Monthly events: i.e. Tour of Groupe Convex Crowdfunding for SE’s, Legal Issues for SE’s, Social Finance 101 Cross Sector relationship building

Accomplishments organizations have taken the SE 101 workshop 7 well attended events held for SE’s 16 SE’s have accessed one on one business coaching 11 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 funded Started in March community partners CISED and Sarnia Community Roundtable as learning partners

Approach Preparing to offer workshop series in the fall Starting monthly Social Enterprise Exchange gatherings Preparing to offer one on one coaching Launching Pillar Consulting Group for SE and nonprofit needs Community 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 important Place based approach Regional partnership development Commitment to learning, inter-regional sharing and joint strategies Mix of workshops to large groups and one on one coaching Importance 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 C. Lang Consulting