The Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI™), a program developed by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society, assists social benefit entrepreneurs in developing business plans that enable their organizations to reach increasing numbers of beneficiaries.

The GSBI consists of three major components:

1. An on-line, mentored, application process hosted on Social Edge and based on three business planning exercises designed to benefit all who participate.
2. 20 organization selected from the application process receive scholarships for an online (4 month) and in-residence (2 week)  program that involves “action learning” and mentoring to prepare a sustainable plan for the organization.
3. On-going mentoring and collaboration for all who complete the in-residence component.

All who participate in the Business Planning Exercises will benefit from the mentoring and feedback on their application, and 20 organizations will be selected for a full scholarship, valued at US $25,000, to participate in the 4-month online preparation and then to attend the intensive two week in-residence program. Selected candidates are responsible for their travel expenses (airfare, ground transportation, passport, and visa).

The application process involves completing three exercises where applicants define their value proposition, target market (beneficiaries), and “social business” model (key income and expense drivers).

Read more and participate here (the first deadline is on the 16th of January)

thanks to Jill Finlayson at Social Edge for the heads up!!

Corporations are increasingly interested in supporting social enterprises. Many have sophisticated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programmes and partnering with social entrepreneurs and their projects helps corporations develop their community programmes, enabling them to demonstrate to their customers and stakeholders (governments, shareholders, other groups) that they are actively engaged in doing good in the community. Many are often keen to engage their employees in their CSR programmes as it helps develop their skills and promotes a sense of good will within the company. If your project aligns with their core business strategy, they are more likely to be interested in you.

This guide provides a brief outline of how you can seek to benefit from partnerships with corporations but many of the points listed also apply to other forms of funding sources including governmental, foundations and NGO.

It is not intended to be a complete guide. Far from it, we hope you will add your own ideas and experiences and how these relate to your particular situation. Different countries and cultures will require different approaches. We hope this guide combined with members contributions will create a valuable and comprehensive tool which everyone can benefit from.

1. Ask yourself some basic questions
2. Research
3. Mix and match
4. Produce a plan for the project
5. Make contact
6. Preparing your presentation
7. The presentation
8. Follow up
9. Deliver!

.: read the complete guide  -> i-genius.org