Free series will help you kick-start your social enterprise

This is Earth Week, and Green Marketing TV is putting on the first Green Business Entrepreneurs Success Summit, aimed at uniting purpose and profit for a sustainable planet. Socialbrite founder J.D. Lasica is participating Thursday at 11 am ET, 8 am PT.

Guest post by Lorna Li
Founder, Green Marketing TV

Are you a green business owner or social entrepreneur who believes you can make a positive impact in the world without going broke? Have you always longed to start a sustainable business, but you’re not quite sure how to do it or don’t know what you want to sell?

Whether you’re an aspiring social entrepreneur or already have a sustainable business you want to take to the next level, you’ll get valuable information just by attending this free virtual event series.

The Green Business Entrepreneurs Success Summit

The Green Business Entrepreneurs Success Summit is a free virtual week-long series (let’s call it an alternative Green MBA), featuring the visionary leaders who are defining the green economy and ethical marketplace, plus marketing gurus who will help you take your business to the next level.

Here are the details:

When: April 16-20 (Monday to Friday), 2012

Cost: Free. Brought to you by Green Marketing TV

Registration: To get access to the calls, please register

Who should attend

• Established green business owners and green business professionals
• Mission-driven entrepreneurs who believe in sustainability
• Green marketers & green product designers
• Forward-thinking intrapraneurs driving corporate sustainability initiatives
• Early-stage green startup entrepreneurs
• Aspiring green and social entrepreneurs researching innovative business ideas
• Change-makers seeking to unite purpose, passion and profit

What you’ll learn

• Evaluating the marketplace & identifying your niche
• Developing your visionary business idea
• Raising capital through business plan competitions, crowdfunding & VC investment
• Growing your business without going crazy
• Marketing your business on a bootstrap budget

Panel topics for the summit

Monday April 16 | Track 1 – The Growth of the Green Economy & Ethical Markets

Here we cover the state of the sustainable economy and socially responsible markets. We’re going to look at the size of the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market and uncover the hottest market opportunities. We will discover extraordinary companies that are solving the world’s most pressing concerns, and learn how they succeeded.

• What will it take to co-create a green economy?
• The greening of mainstream business in non-green markets
• Ways sustainable business is going global & improving social conditions
• Hottest opportunities in the $290 billion US LOHAS market
• Making green sexy: Guerrilla marketing tactics for small green businesses

Register now

Tuesday April 17 | Track 2 – From Visionary Business Idea…

This series will help you identify your unique genius, leave your day job, create a business plan, and embark on your journey to financial freedom. From business plan competitions, to online fundraising tools and social venture funding, we also look at some funding options for social entrepreneurs and what it takes to attract investors.

• Keys to manifesting entrepreneurial success using the law of attraction
• Hacking social enterprise business plan competitions
• How to attract VC investors to fund your social enterprise
• Who’s funding what in the social capital marketplace
• The art of defining your niche & attracting your perfect-fit clients
• How to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign

Register now

Wednesday April 18 | Track 3 – …To Thriving Green Enterprise

Once you’ve launched your sustainable social venture, what does it take to reach your target audience and scale your business, without going crazy? In this track, experts talk to us about what it takes to succeed as an emerging entrepreneur. Plus, we’ll cover some high impact green businesses that are coming out with innovative products to feed your creative mind and keep you inspired.

• The new rules of green marketing: What green entrepreneurs need to know now
• Small companies creating cool green products
• How to power-network your way to a more sustainable world
• Online productivity tools every small business should know about
• Innovative social entrepreneurs who are creating scalable solutions

Register now

Thursday April 19 | Track 4 – Grow Your Good Business With Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a powerful and free way to grow your business, expand your reach, and create a community of fans around your business who will promote you and buy from you over and over again. But many small businesses don’t see the ROI in social media and have a hard time getting it to work for them. In this track, we will show you what you are doing wrong, and how to do social media right.

• Your small business social media command central
• Cracking the code to profitable social media marketing as a small business
• Your social media launch blueprint & advanced strategies for savvy marketers
• Facebook – From social time suck to lead generation machine
• What it takes to build a 6 figure business for good blogging empire
• From green blog to green business – creative blog monetization strategies

Register now

Friday April 20 | Track 5 – Bootstrap Internet Marketing for Green & Socially Responsible Business

Small businesses have smaller marketing budgets, but this doesn’t mean you can’t compete with big brands, and even out market them. As an SMB, you have the advantage of strategic agility, while big businesses often take months to execute on a simple web strategy because of the politics and bureaucracy. This track focuses on your optimizing your website and content marketing strategies that drive organic web traffic.

• Creating your first small business website on a bootstrap budget
• WordPress SEO strategies for time-strapped small businesses
• The art of turning website visitors into adoring customers
• Why local SEO matters for your small green business
• Grow your sustainable business with green affiliate marketing

Register now

28 speakers

Here’s the speaker lineup. Speakers include:

Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director Green America & Green Festivals
Andrea Vahl, Social Media Consultant and author of, “Facebook Marketing All-In-One For Dummies”
Bob Doyle, CEO Boundless Living & Wealth Beyond Reason, Law of Attraction and “The Secret”
Daan Elffers, Founder ELCAMEDIA Cradle to Cradle Marketing Agency
David Mihm, Co-Founder of GetListed.org & Local SEO Consultant
Elena Christopoulos, Interim President Green Chamber of Commerce
George Kao, Holistic Marketing Coach
Greg Wendt, CFP and Founder of Green Economy Think Tank and Co-Founder of Green Business Networking
Jacquie Ottman, Author of The New Rules of Green Marketing
JD Lasica, Founder of Socialbrite.org & Socialmedia.biz
Joey Shepp, Founder Earthsite and Sustainable Programs Director of Dominican University of CA School of Business and Leadership
Joost de Valk, Founder Yoast.com & Creator of WordPress SEO Plugin
Karen Lee, Founder EcoKaren and Eco Etsy Team Captain
Katrina Heppler, Founder 77webstudio
Kriss Bergethon, Founder Solar Sphere
KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, CEO & Founder of Sustainable Life Media & Sustainable Brands Conference
Kyle Rutkin, Author and Founder of Palooza Press
Lorna Li, Founder Green Marketing TV
Morgan Morris, Co-Founder Inspire Green
Nick Aster, Founder Triple Pundit, Co-Founder TreeHugger
Nikki Pava, Co-Founder EcoTuesday
Rich Brooks, President Flyte New Media
Scott Cooney, Founder GreenBusinessOwner.com
Shawn Berry, Co-Founder LIFT Business Coaching
Shel Horowitz, Author of “Guerilla Marketing Goes Green”
Tyler Gage, Co-Founder Runa Amazon Guayusa Tea Company
Tad Hargrave, Founder Marketing for Hippies
Warren Fligg, Founder Performance-Based Green Affiliate Network

Register Now

Related

• 4 ways nonprofits can learn from social entrepreneurs (by Lorna Li on Socialbrite)

The post A Success Summit for green business entrepreneurs appeared first on Socialbrite.

Expanding online fundraising options for change-makers of all shapes and sizes

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, community organizations, social entrepreneurs, change-makers, activists, organizers.

Guest post by Tom Dawkins
Co-founder, StartSomeGood

The last half-decade has given rise to many exciting advances in the area of online giving and community building. The Obama for America campaign was powered by an unprecedented flood of small donations. Kiva made microfinance something we could all participate in, and Global Giving connected us to development projects around the world.

A variety of platforms, including Causes, Razoo and Jolkona, now allow nonprofits to leverage the power of social networks to aid in their fundraising goals. But not all nonprofits, or even most. Without an U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charity registration, an organization cannot use most of these sites. And while a newer group of “crowdfunding” (we prefer the term peerfunding) websites, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, allow fundraising by all kinds of groups, charities, nonprofits, for-profits and unincorporated organizations, none of these are focused on social impact projects. In fact, as stated in its guidelines, Kickstarter specifically prohibits “charity or cause fundraising.”

So despite the seemingly diverse fundraising opportunities now available, a huge number of potential social change-makers as well as for-profit social enterprises, pre-tax deductible nonprofit startups and unincorporated community groups (for example the Occupy movement) are not well-serviced by by those offerings. To address this gap and inspire more people to get involved in creating social impact, we launched StartSomeGood eight months ago.

The social impact solution

StartSomeGood provides a platform for all social impact initiatives, whether incorporated as a nonprofit or for profit, or not yet incorporated at all, to grow a community of supporters to help fuel their growth and impact.

We are moving social change fundraising beyond the boundaries of tax-deductible organizations and moving peer-funding beyond the creative projects it is most associated with. By allowing all types of social impact initiatives to promote themselves alongside each other, inspiring and mobilizing their communities to make change happen, we hope to speed up the process of social innovation and cultivate a new generation of change-makers.

How it works

StartSomeGood is not simply a clone of existing crowdfunding sites but a unique model designed to suit the needs of social entrepreneurs. Rather than the “all-or-nothing” model ala Kickstarter or “keep what you raise” model of IndieGoGo, StartSomeGood employs a “tipping point” model that better communicates the context of the project’s fundraising needs. Individual entrepreneurs determine the tipping point for their campaign, anywhere from 25 to 100 percent of the total campaign goal. It is only if the campaign reaches this tipping point that pledges are processed.

The architecture of the site also balances fundraising campaigns with organizational profile pages, providing a more stable fundraising home for growing social enterprises and organizations that want to run multiple campaigns over time. Here’s a comparison we put together of some of the leading peerfunding sites.

Inspiring people to give

We believe that the “nonprofit sector” is less important than the “social good sector” — that great world-changing ideas can come from anywhere and that socially minded for-profits can be as effective at bringing about change as traditional nonprofits. We know that important work is being done by unincorporated groups and social change free-agents. We want to break down the silos that say only a specific type of incorporated institution in one country on earth are given access to sophisticated online fundraising tools. We want to dispel the myth that being tax-deductible is the most important driver of giving behavior because, truth be told, below a certain threshold it simply doesn’t matter.

What are important drivers of giving behavior? Great stories, inspiring visions for a better world, a personal connection to an issue and relationships with people affected or involved are just some of the elements we know inspire people to contribute to a social good initiative. These elements are powerful, irrespective of tax status. More important by far are the ideas, inspiration and credibility of the entrepreneur doing the asking.

This is why we prefer calling what we do peer-funding rather than crowdfunding. “Crowd” implies an anonymous, atomized group of individuals. But this is not who will support your project. Your supporters will be your existing networks and the wider cultural and geographic communities connected to your initiative. We prefer to think of these people as collaborators, or peers, in making change happen.

If you are passionate about an issue facing your community, have a unique vision to share and the commitment to implement it, we would love to hear from you. StartSomeGood might be the toolkit you have been looking for to raise the funds you need and get started.

Related

• What social fundraising means for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• Social fundraising tools: Our top 5 picks (Socialbrite)

• Fundly: Tap into your supporters’ social networks (Socialbrite)

• Rally: Raise money for your favorite cause (Socialbrite)

• HelpAttack!: Unleash the charitable power of social media (Socialbrite)

The post StartSomeGood: Grow your social impact appeared first on Socialbrite.

Guest post by Megan McFadden
Social Capital Markets

SOCAP11 — the fourth annual Social Capital Markets conference — has announced that more than 50 global social entrepreneurs have been awarded a full scholarship to the event taking place Sept. 6-9 in San Francisco.

Among those attending will be:

• David Auerbach, founder of Sanergy, who is working for sustainable sanitation in Kenyan slums

• Catlin Powers, founder of One Earth Designs, who is incubating local innovation in China

• Mohamed Ali Niang, founder of Malo Traders, who is working to ensure that rice farmers in Mali do not go hungry. 

See the full list of social entrepreneurs.

SOCAP is the leading global event to connect not only social entrepreneurs and investors, but a community of cross-sector individuals working together to build a market at the intersection of money and meaning. (Socialbrite founder JD Lasica will also be attending.) This year, SOCAP11 offers an Entrepreneur Track that will support social entrepreneurs with pitch sessions, mentoring opportunities and connections to investors who can help support their mission for change.

Early discount ends next week

Are you a social entrepreneur or interested in learning more about the space? We’re happy to extend a special deep discount of 30 percent off registration if you enter Discount Code SOCENT30, valid until Aug. 23 (a week from today) or until the event sells out.

The deadline for the SOCAP11 Innovation Showcase is today. Apply be part of the exhibit, which opens Sept. 7.

The post Social entrepreneurs heading to SF for SOCAP11 appeared first on Socialbrite.

Agora Partnerships expanding its impact beyond Central America roots

One of the coolest people I met at Sustainatopia in Miami last week was Daniela Hammeken, director of strategic partnerships for Agora Partnerships, a nonprofit that works with small companies in Central America to provide access to knowledge, capital and networks.

Based in Washington, D.C., and Managua, Nicaragua, Agora (tagline: “fighting poverty by enhancing entrepreneurship”) is a 6-year-old nonprofit that’s creating an entrepreneurial community, helping small to mid-size companies connect with each other and gain access to the financing they need from national and international investors.

Each of the nine companies Agora works with has an interesting story to tell. One makes toy blocks, similar to Legos, derived from woods in the Honduras rainforest; with every toy sold, the buyer has the choice of supporting reforestation or an educational program in Honduras. Another small enterprise is run by a Guatemalan woman who increases the supply chain of women artisans in Guatemala to make their products more widely available.

“It’s really about using creativity and innovation to not only sell your main product but thinking about sustainability and the values in how they’re produced,” she says.

Impact investing is just beginning to come to the region, Daniela said. Applicants that come to Agora should be profitable businesses based in Central America, their business plan must incorporate social or environmental sustainability, they need to have fewer than 100 employees and generate between $50,000 and $1 million a year in revenue, with a goal of targeting that same amount in growth capital. A second crop of companies will encompass those in Mexico as well with other Latin American countries to follow.

Watch, download or embed the video on Vimeo

Agora’s Accelerator program offers companies better information about financial management, marketing and regional networks as well as entry into an investor conference where they can connect with investors.

Daniela, a native of Mexico who attended NYU, has a background in microfinance, and her interest in getting basic needs met for underserved populations eventually led her to the impact investing field. Agora Partnerships, it appears, is a small organization with the potential for big impact.

The post Fighting poverty by enhancing social entrepreneurship appeared first on Socialbrite.

At Sustainatopia in Miami, take charge of new social technologies for your nonprofit, social enterprise or social cause

Today we’re announcing a new bootcamp for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs and other change-makers: Move the Needle! How to Mobilize Your Supporters to Take Action. We’re pretty excited about it — while I’ve put on a few social media bootcamps, and so has my Socialbrite colleague Sloane Berrent, this is our first combined effort.

Sloane and I hope you’ll pass along the word to your colleagues, especially those looking to use social media to activate their supporters. Here are the details:

What

Whether you want to grow your membership, raise funds or loans, recruit more followers, gather petition signatures, find volunteers for your cause or connect with your community, Move the Needle! How to Mobilize Your Supporters to Take Action will offer guidance that will help your organization create impact for years to come.

This special 3-hour workshop will dive deeply into strategy, tactics and tools available to social entrepreneurs and nonprofit change agents. Minutes later, Sustainatopia will rev up with the second annual Social Venture Capital/Social Enterprise Conference (SVC/SE – Miami).

Don’t be intimidated by social tools! Learn how to formulate a strategy, then put the right tools to use in this power-packed interactive workshop.

When & where

Monday, April 4, 9 am to noon
Miami Beach Convention Center

How much

$99 (email us for a 15% discount code for nonprofits)

Who should come

• Nonprofit managers and executives
• Representatives of foundations and NGOs
• Community managers
• Change agents and representatives of social cause organizations
• Social enterprise executives, managers & aspiring entrepreneurs
• VCs, investors and philanthropists
• Political reformers, journalists and educators
• Activists, advocates and those who want to make the world a better place

Speakers

J.D. Lasica is a social media strategist, consultant and author who is considered one of the world’s leading experts on the social Web. He is founder of Socialbrite.org, a learning hub & global consultancy that works with nonprofits and social enterprises, and Socialmedia.biz, which works with major brands. A blogger since 2001, J.D. co-founded Ourmedia.org, the first free video hosting site, a month before YouTube.

He has spoken at or given workshops at Harvard’s Berkman Center, Stanford, MIT, NYU, SXSW, the Cannes Film Festival and at events in Paris, Milan and Seoul. J.D. was named one of the Top 40 Silicon Valley Influencers and one of CNET’s Top 100 Media Bloggers. Follow him on Twitter at @jdlasica.

Sloane Berrent is a digital strategist focused on campaigns in social innovation and corporate social responsibility. She runs Answer With Action, a digital communications and marketing strategy consultancy that creates campaigns and events with immediate impact for businesses, and she is a partner in Socialbrite.

A former Kiva Fellow, she is the co-creator of Cause It’s My Birthday, a nationwide malaria prevention campaign. In January 2010 Sloane attended the World Economic Forum (Davos) as the citizen journalist for MySpace and The Wall Street Journal and in February 2011 she traveled to Haiti. She is a nationally recognized speaker on community building and “cause-filled living” and writes on her blog, The Causemopolitan. Follow her on Twitter at @sloane.

Agenda

This workshop will focus chiefly on practical, down-to-earth tactics and strategies that busy professionals can immediately take to engage supporters. The emphasis is on actionable takeaways. You’ll be introduced to several examples of social enterprises, nonprofits and organizations that are moving the needle — with real-world examples you can learn from.

We encourage interaction and questions during our sessions! If your social enterprise or nonprofits has “lessons learned” that you’d like to share, email us and we’ll call on you during the session.

Some of the questions we’ll cover:

• What strategies & tactics will motivate supporters and newcomers to take specific actions on behalf of my organization or cause?
• What are the essential elements of a successful advocacy campaign?
• How can I successfully use social tools to mobilize my organization’s members, spread awareness, enlist supporters, raise funds and drive action?
• How can storytelling and video advance the mission of my social enterprise?
• Which organizations are moving the needle, and what are they doing right?
• What are some of the cutting-edge tools and resources available for change agents looking to make a difference?
• What do you want to know? Email us in advance.

Format, food & drinks

Where possible, we’ll use a roundtable approach and a short small-group breakout session that encourages dialogue and interaction. We’ll also try to include an appearance by a local social entrepreneur who’ll provide an account of how their enterprise is moving the needle as well as a Q&A.

Series

This is part of Socialbrite’s nationwide series of social media bootcamps. At Personal Democracy Forum, we presented to 50 social activists & nonprofits (at $199 per person — twice the price of Miami).

Hear what Jeff Pfaff, founder & CEO of mtbMobile, said about taking the bootcamp in this 60-second audio:

Bonus materials!

In addition to this 3-hour live training, during the bootcamp you’ll also be access to download these full-color handouts and guides at no additional cost:

1. 12 Steps to Mobilize Your Cause — Summary of all the action items you need to conduct a successful campaign.
2. Team Collaboration — Tools to help you work with other organizations or your own team members in multiple locations.
3. 15 Best Practices for the Social Web — High-level principles to help you succeed in social media.
4. 12 Social Action Hubs — Selectively plug into some of these online communities and crowdsource platforms to promote a social cause.
5. 40 Hashtags for Social Good — Use these Twitter hashtags as you tweet for your cause to gain wider visibility and viral help from the community.
6. 10 Mobile Apps for Social Good — Apps for your iPhone or Android.
7. 6 Twitter Tips for Change-Makers — A series of tips to help your organization use Twitter more strategically.

The post New bootcamp: Move the needle for your nonprofit! appeared first on Socialbrite.