Jim Kucher has been preaching the need for non-profits to realize they are a uniquely American failed experiment in many respects. For all the good work they do, most nonprofits remain in a precarious financial condition because they do not choose to offer paid services, whether through misplaced fears of the IRS or a lack of familiarity with basic business practices.
Determined to understand this situation better, I picked up a paperback copy of Kucher and Raible’s Social Entrepreneurship. Its dull-looking cover screams “college textbook” but the well-written contents were quite a surprise.
The book is a small encyclopedia of both aspects of social enterprise, combining a history of social work with a short primer on business fundamentals. The authors discuss the history and special characteristics of social enterprises (the term arose in the 1980s), along with guidance on various kinds of tools (iteration, test markets, pivoting, etc.).
Read the rest at Solidarity Hall
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