Olwen Dawe | Irish Business Intelligence Marketing & The Business “Stuff” Simple Strategies for Social & Community Enterprise Sustainability

What’s this presentation about? Sustainability: Showing you – the people behind community organisations and social enterprises – how you can equip your organisations for sustainability; Simple Strategies: The role and application of business techniques in sustaining your social enterprise; Straightforward Next Steps: Providing you with a very straightforward set of steps to apply from today to your organisation for better outcomes.

But first… a few definitions… “Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs are the change agents for society, seizing overlooked opportunities by improving systems, inventing new approaches and creating sustainable solutions to transform society for the better....” Skoll Foundation “Social enterprises are part of what is termed the Third Sector or Social Economy. The Third Sector is comprised of organisations that are independent of the State, but may receive funding from the State, and may also contribute to the delivery of public services. They have primarily social objectives and reinvest any surpluses they generate in pursuing these objectives.” ‘Exploring Social Enterprise’, A. Clarke & A. Eustace, Eustace Patterson Ltd. FINAL REPORT, September 2009 ‘that part of the economy, between the private and public sectors, which engages in economic activity in order to meet social objectives’. FÁS

Social & Community Enterprise – Ireland Strong history of collective action: – GAA – Agricultural Co-Operative Movement – Credit Union [being the world’s largest [per capita] financial cooperative] The concept of social enterprise has gained attention in recent years and increasingly is seen as one viable response to the economic trauma Ireland has experienced. Social Enterprise in Ireland: A People’s Economy? Doyle & Lawlor, 2012

Tangible Benefits to the Irish Economy Providing affordable services/products to communities 79% Bringing people together 76% Creating local jobs 75% Providing goods/services previously not available locally 74% Putting money into the local economy 56% Buying from local suppliers 48% Helping the environment 30% ‘ Exploring Social Enterprise’, A. Clarke & A. Eustace, Eustace Patterson Ltd. FINAL REPORT, September 2009

The trends overseas… UK “Big Society” Employs 800,000 + Contributes £24Bn+ to economy New laws and funding, impetus given by austerity will help produce a £50Bn sector “What we are creating in 2012 is a more fertile environment and 2013 should be good year for significant change” Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK (SEUK)

The trends overseas… Europe - Mainland 2 million enterprises (= 10% of all European businesses) Employ over 11 million paid employees (= 6% of working population of Europe) EU policy aims at creating a favourable regulatory environment for social economy enterprises

… and what are the challenges? Funding/Finance 69% Sustainability 23% Strategic Planning 6% Premises/space 2% ‘Exploring Social Enterprise’, A. Clarke & A. Eustace, Eustace Patterson Ltd. FINAL REPORT, September 2009

How do we deal with the challenges? Proper ‘foundations’ – clarity [planning] Building networks – collaborative solutions Utilising shared challenges as a means to brainstorm and problem-solve – share resources Applying some business ‘techniques’ to enhance our sustainability

Using straightforward business techniques… Provide social and community organisations with a strong foundation to work off…

How can business tools help? They provide – Structure; Focus - outcomes; Identification of funding needs; Engagement - stakeholders; Promotion / marketing.

The Key: Sustainability

Breaking Down the Business Jargon! Buzzword #1: Strategy Buzzword #2: Plan Buzzword #3: Marketing Understand what they mean to YOUR organisation.

#1 STRATEGY Why you’re doing what you’re doing What are our goals? What is the ultimate aim of the organisation? Who needs to be ‘onboard’? What actions do we need to undertake? Why? What do we need to engage – resource-wise to achieve our goals? Timing.

#2 PLAN How are we going to implement the strategy? Picking apart the strategy… … and putting it back together, block-by- block… Who’s on the bus? Who’s driving the bus?

#3 MARKETING Nuances of social enterprise… It’s not about marketing in the traditional sense… but engaging the right people. Communicating your story effectively to the right people and why they need to hear it.

#3 MARKETING WHY? – Users – Funding – Referral / engagement & support – Publicity

#3 MARKETING Understand the channels that work for you and why… – Social Media – PR – Traditional Media – Relationship Building – Advertising – Mailshots /e-shots – Networking

#3 MARKETING Ultimately… All actions should be underpinned by your strategy and plan. And focus 100% on goals of the organisation.

Back to this guy again… … you need to review regularly against: – Targets; – Goals; – Progress.

WHY? To keep you on-track; To understand if and why things aren’t happening according to plan; To maintain consistency.

Next Steps Start with one page and get as much clarity as possible regarding your aims and objectives; Workshop it with others [test your thinking]; Understand where you are versus where you’d like things ‘to be’; Get a handle on your strengths and weaknesses…

Next Steps Look at: – Financial / funding needs; – Other resources; – Marketing / communications. Health check? Where do we need attention?

That’s enough homework for now… …. Any questions?

Thank you for your time and attention. Thanks also to our conference facilitators: