The Community Foundation of Utah

Main points from the gathering of social entrepreneurs at the Indian Business School in the heart of HITECH city in Hyderabad via the Skoll foundation
Scaling strategies have to be derived around the "needs" of the beneficiaries rather than "wants"
As one establishes a for-profit to address a social mission there needs to be a strong emphasis on accountability
Need to demystify the margin structures in manufacturing and distribution – provide more clarity on costs throughout the value chain.
Often organizations seek just grant funding which subsidizes opportunities and thereby does not allow for creative financing (of mixing soft and hard funding / and where they need to be effectively applied)
There is still an acute shortage of flexible, early stage, risk-taking capital for for-profit social enterprises
Keep the ultimate beneficiaries central to negotiations between the social enterprise and the company
Don't approach profit as a "dirty word" – it is fundamental/central to a company's existence
Have to educate companies to look at non-profits on multi-aspects beyond just reaching a new market/target population and encourage them to be "co-creators" – companies need to be prepare for financing Have a rationale, transparent revenue sharing model as there is inherently a power imbalance with the companies. So it is important to be clear on pricing and a realistic timeline (how long it will take to scale/reach volumes)
CSR must be recognized as integral to business – not a charity program on the sidelines
Present opportunity in the language of the company ie: business plan, financial models – often NGOs may have all the data but present information in a manner that is not educative to the companies
Sometimes the partnership does not make sense – if it is not viewed as an integral strategy to both organizations. So, to save future headaches and heartbreaks and failures, there need to be milestones that assess the health of the partnership and decide on clear go-no go criteria.