Ignorer la navigation
Social Startup Success
Book

Social Startup Success

How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up, and Make a Difference

Da Capo Press, 2018 plus...

Buy the book


Editorial Rating

7

getAbstract Rating

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

To produce long-lasting solutions to the world’s worst problems, social service organizations need creative leadership and innovation, according to philanthropy expert Kathleen Kelly Janus in this must-have handbook for the next generation of social entrepreneurs. She bases her research on the best practices of America’s most successful nonprofits. And she derives her compelling sections on ideas testing and experimenting from the funding models of innovators in the tech sector. Janus, the founder of Spark, also offers counsel for small nonprofits that struggle to grow past their stage of initial seed funding. Throughout, she champions the aspirations of the social entrepreneurs she covers, recounting their passion and dedication to spearheading change. Her accounts of how nonprofit leaders transform lives in their neighborhoods and around the world will inspire readers interested in nonprofits and social service.

Summary

“Human-Centered Design”

Unlike private businesses, nonprofits don’t have access to angel investors. Their stakeholders include governments, other organizations, nonprofits doing similar work, researchers, activists and beneficiaries. To grow, nonprofits must maximize funding using “human-centered design” – a cost-effective, responsive cycle of research, brainstorming and prototyping.

New nonprofits should keep costs low when developing their prototypes. For example, Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit delivering preschool education to low-income neighborhoods, made a prototype for its Preschool Bus Project using a carpet and some tape, and then furnished it with cheap Ikea furniture. 

The Lessons of Failure

Innovation entails trial, error and, often, failure and trying again. Unsuccessful nonprofits hurt beneficiaries in the long run. When nonprofit leaders commit so strongly to their ideas that they can’t admit failure or they fear losing funding, their organizations suffer. Silicon Valley firms offer a model for the ethos of...

About the Author

Social entrepreneur Kathleen Kelly Janus, an expert on philanthropy and scaling up early-stage organizations, lectures at Stanford University’s Program on Social Entrepreneurship. 


Comment on this summary

More on this topic

Related Skills

AI Transformation
Développer sa créativité
Apprendre à s'adapter
Créer sa startup
Communiquer efficacement
Transformation numérique
Discover AI Use Cases
Drive Team Performance
Création d’entreprise
Promouvoir une culture de l'innovation
Ressources Humaines
Mettre en œuvre des stratégies ESG
Innovation
Diriger la planification opérationnelle
Diriger stratégiquement
S’auto-diriger
Leadership
Manage Learning and Development
Gérer l'innovation produit
Gérer des équipes et des départements
Management
Perspectives de marché par secteur
Marketing
Maîtriser le content marketing
Développement personnel
Promouvoir la diversité, l'équité et l'inclusion
Compétences relationnelles
Strategize Digital Transformation
Durabilité
Comprendre l'innovation
Compétences professionnelles
Encourager l'expérimentation
Comprendre l'intérêt commercial des critères ESG
Découvrir des études de cas sur l'innovation
Définir et suivre les KPI
Avenir du secteur non lucratif
Piloter le développement produit
Gérer l'impact de son leadership
Practice Transformational Leadership
Secteur non lucratif
Stimuler les performances de l’entreprise
Se lancer dans l’entrepreneuriat social
Acteurs clés du secteur non lucratif
Measure Digital Transformation Impact
Bonnes pratiques du secteur non lucratif
Direction exécutive
Mesurer l'impact du L&D
Suivre les progrès de la DEI
Discover AI Use Cases in the Nonprofit Sector
Études de cas du secteur non lucratif
Défis du secteur non lucratif
Développer la tolérance à l'échec
Raconter des histoires convaincantes
Apprendre à échouer intelligemment