I guess you can say that Geoff Cape knows a thing or two about social entrepreneurship. For approximately 18 years, he has led Evergreen, a national charity and social business venture with a mission of bringing communities and nature together for the benefit of both. In addition to its newest venture, Brickworks, an innovative urban green space project, the organization is currently running a million-dollar program in Ontario with the Ministry of Natural Resources, activities in BC and Alberta, and other programming in the realm of food and urban agriculture.

A testament to Cape’s contributions to the field of social entrepreneurship and healthy sustainable societies, the innovator was recently awarded the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Canada’s first recipient of the prestigious prize. Evidently, Cape has an intimate understanding of what makes these hybrid models work so well within the charitable paradigm. But what makes a social entrepreneur tick? What are the unique qualities, if any, that are commonly associated with those who’ve introduced entrepreneurial buzzwords into the not-for-profit vernacular? And what can any organization, regardless of its model, learn from these entrepreneurs to help it succeed?

It all comes down to this

“Persistence, perseverance, good listening skills, and fundamentally, great communication skills are required,” says Cape. A sense of opportunity, a sense of possibility and always looking for the solution rather than the problem is also critical, he adds. And let’s not forget that successful entrepreneurs are solution-focused. “It’s more than being a dreamy optimist; it’s about being solution-oriented and always thinking about what’s possible,” he says with conviction.

Adrian Etchell agrees. “Social entrepreneurs know how to balance their passion with realism,” says the director of communications at the Canadian Social Entrepreneurship Foundation – an organization with a multi-tasking mission of educating, mentoring, networking, and providing resources to the sector. They are also passionate, innovative, insightful, and inventive risk-takers frustrated with the status quo and eager for change. But, adds Etchell, while many individuals want to effect change, most burn out because they don’t know how to go about it. Realistic expectations, however, are what distinguishes a social entrepreneur, moving him forward.

Innovation meets creativity

Another quality that sets social innovators apart, according to Eli Malinsky, is the constant search for novel, creative and sustainable opportunities. Project manager at the Centre for Social Innovation, which provides physical space to social mission projects and encourages entrepreneurs through various initiatives and programs, Malinsky has witnessed that mindset in action in the tenants that stream through the centre’s doors. Explaining their behaviour, Malinsky refers to the pervasiveness of government cutbacks and the strain it puts on the nonprofit sector. It makes sense that an entrepreneur would be focused on achieving organizational resiliency, he offers. “They must be thinking of ways to generate revenue that is independent of specific projects.” They must also be forward-thinking, progressive, looking for new opportunities and new connections, he adds. After all, if you stick determinately to the way you’ve always done things, you’ll probably be sideswiped by the emergence of new trends and opportunities. “And you’ll become either potentially irrelevant or, more likely, unsustainable because you can’t find the funding sources you were used to.”

In fact, constantly looking for new approaches and ideas is at the heart of any entrepreneurial frame of mind. “An entrepreneur looks at the world from the perspective of no limitations,” says John Baker, management consultant with Aperio, a consultancy that specializes in fostering and supporting social entrepreneurship and innovation. “So, where many nonprofits spend time saying, ‘we don’t have enough money for this’, an entrepreneur doesn’t look at these barriers.” They take risks, many of which fail, but in the end, they find success.

Good for one, good for all?

Considering all the positive adjectives used to sum up a social entrepreneur, would the argument follow that entrepreneurship is a smart step for all nonprofits to follow? “I can’t think of an example where I would say your organization can’t engage in social entrepreneurship,” says Etchell. In fact, he continues, in view of the level of dependence so many organizations place on government grants, adding a commercial twist to your organization may offer a good alternative. “The proposal model is very unstable; an organization can spend more time trying to seek money than actually delivering services.” Etchell suggests taking a few steps toward social entrepreneurship to feel it out first and then decide whether to go full speed ahead.

But not all experts concur. “Social entrepreneurship is not for everyone,” states Baker. And those least likely to benefit, he says, are organizations looking for a solution, a quick fix, to their problems. Unless you have a good sense of who you are and what you want to be, you shouldn’t be venturing forward. “If you’re already struggling, introducing a social entrepreneurship [venture] will potentially make you struggle even more,” Baker cautions. Others he would advise against taking entrepreneurial steps are organizations looking to do so in a piecemeal fashion. “You can’t do a little bit of this, he adds. “It’s a package deal; it tends to cut across the entire organization.” Simply put: having the executive director or one board member as the sole champion of the new social venture will not work.

All aboard!

“For an organization that becomes entrepreneurial, it has to permeate that organizational culture and all levels of staff, including the board,” agrees Malinsky. This condition is actually one of the major challenges that all social entrepreneurships need to overcome, he says. By building a broad organizational culture that celebrates creativity, new ideas, and contributions from all staff members, entrepreneurships can succeed. For example, he offers, lunch-and-learn meetings can be established, the hierarchy can be flattened by creating more feedback loops, communication can be encouraged, and books and resources that recount similar successful initiatives can be introduced.

Reality check?

Even with the right attitude and approach, not everyone sees social entrepreneurship as the answer. Professor Ray Dart of Trent University, a rare and unique voice in the field, is quite sceptical of the potential for organizations moving in this direction to succeed – at all. Aside from teaching a variety of business courses on such topics as nonprofit organizations and entrepreneurship, Dart also works as a consultant and researcher in the sector. His combined experience has made him wary of what he refers to as the social entrepreneurial rhetoric that he distinguishes from reality. “We’re getting a handle on how important it is to separate what we hope all this can do and be about and what actually works and is actually happening in the field.”

The truth is, moving a social entrepreneurships from inception to success is hard work. And while, at one time, Dart predicted the field would be filled with flourishing social entrepreneurial case studies, he says the reality just doesn’t measure up. Aside from some successful ventures that rely on clients willing to pay premiums for services – environmental causes comes to mind – the general numbers are pretty grim. “It’s massively less than 1% of the nonprofit, charitable sector; it’s barely a blip on the radar.” And Dart’s predictions for the future aren’t much more optimistic. If these are the success rates during buoyant times, he asks rhetorically, what will the situation be when the economy slows down?

Lessons learned

Doomsday predictions aside, Dart still sees social entrepreneurs playing a significant role in the nonprofit field. Their emphasis on new organizing models and innovation, thinking outside the box, and being more creative and open-minded about how problems are solved are just some of the many lessons that any organization can put to good use. “The social entrepreneurial field has been fantastic at giving everybody a good zing in terms of waking them up to the importance of all those things.” And, he adds, if every organization can use these teachings to make themselves more exciting, sustainable and vital, they are better off for it – regardless of whether they commercialize their model.

Even award-winning Geoff Cape, Mr. Social Entrepreneur himself, would agree that implementing creative problem-solving is what’s really important. “There’s an imperative on every organization that’s working on issues of social challenges to be entrepreneurial in the way they address them and the way [they] move the culture of an organization,” he says. But it doesn’t mean you have to become a business. What’s important is to talk to people, play with ideas, bounce them off of others, thereby creating a level of engagement and creativity.

Never underestimate the importance of conversations, Cape adds. “It’s really about the iteration of an idea.” And, he advises, don’t limit those conversations to those strictly in your immediate community. Break outside your comfort zone if you truly want to move an idea forward. Seek out different perspectives; learn how other successful leaders in different industries carved their strategic narratives. Then bring those ideas home.

Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She can be reached at: esbirnbaum@gmail.com.

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