Fast Company has released its 2008 Social Entrepreneur Awards.
They now include a category that includes for-profit social entrepreneurs. This is a growing trend as social entrepreneurs see fewer advantages and more headaches associated with non-profit status.
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Hi Jeff – could you expand on these comments at all, because I think they’re interesting re. the importance (or lack of) of legal structures in promoting social enterprise / entrepreneurship….
Thanks.
Sure. Many social entrepreneurs view the traditional non-profit model as being too encumbering, restrictive, and expensive. Many are developing business models in which they generate revenues that can support their causes.
For example, Pura Vida coffee sells free trade coffee. They are a for-profit company. But the owners have committed to funneling all of the profits to help support and develop the farmers who grow their coffee.
We find more and more of today’s social entrepreneurs who believe that the IRS places too many restrictions on the non-profits of the world. They would rather use free enterprise to pursue their social objectives.
Go to Pura Vida’s web site http://www.puravidacoffee.com/ or to CoolPeopleCare’s web site http://www.coolpeoplecare.org/ to see some examples of this growing trend.