Giving Compass' Take:

• Social entrepreneurs can thrive by creating partnerships with financial firms because they can tap into an organization's resources and networks to achieve their goals.

• What would be some potential risks in partnering with financial firms? What if their missions don't align? 

• Learn more about why business support is helpful, especially for early-stage social enterprises. 

Social entrepreneurs and financial firms each bring something to the table that the other needs. From their perspective, social entrepreneurs thrive on using their businesses to impact society in real and meaningful ways.

Meanwhile, financial firms are adept at generating profits, but sometimes need additional guidance in making a more positive social impact. Working together can benefit both in the following ways:

  • Financial Firms Know the Right People: Often social entrepreneurs fail in attempting to cultivate relationships with financial backers who are more capable of funding their goals. When social entrepreneurs partner with financial firms, however, they have access to a wider pool of networking opportunities.
  • Financial Firms Have the Expertise to Fine-Tune Funding Models:  The firm can help develop a better philanthropic funding model that will attract wider attention and draw a greater number of investors to the project.
  • Applying Tech Start-Up Thinking to Social Enterprises: As financial firms often involve themselves in businesses of every industry, they become knowledgeable about what new approaches work best.

Read the full article about social enterprise partnerships by William Nakulski at Medium.