2010 Social Impact Report and Summary

Published in 2011

REDF is dedicated to using data and evidence to improve its practice and the field of social enterprise. Our measurement and evaluation work includes tracking of social enterprise employees over time, development of Social Return on Investment methodology and reporting, and other efforts that capture development of non-profit capacity and other key indicators... More »

A Snapshot of the Field: Social Enterprises Employing People with Barriers to Employment

Published in 2011 | Download [PDF] 356 KB

In summer 2008, the Social Enterprise Alliance, with support from REDF, partnered with Community Wealth Ventures and Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship to assess the state of social enterprise in the nonprofit sector in the U.S. and Canada. ... More »

REDF Social Enterprise Feasibility and Business Planning Guide

Published in 2009 | Download [PDF] 1.26 MB

This presentation outlines REDF’s methodology for screening, selecting, and business planning for an employment-focused social enterprise. Included are step-by-step guiding questions based on REDF experience, as well as case examples from REDF’s portfolio work. This presentation can also be used in conjunction with other REDF tools including our social enterprise business plan template and our pre-feasibility testing tool ... More »

Supportive Housing Property Management Business Practices and Resident Employment

Published in 2009

In the fall of 2008, REDF, the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the Enterprise Community Partners engaged VIVA Consulting to conduct a study on best practices in the management of supportive housing. VIVA conducted a survey and a series of interviews with providers from across the country to ask about a range of business practices and recommendations, including staffing, hiring... More »

Performance Dashboards: Speedometer and Odometer for Social Enterprise

Published in 2009 | Download [PDF] 2.03 MB

With one quick glance, your car's dashboard tells you how fast you're going and how much fuel you have left. A social-enterprise-specific dashboard can give you a quick snapshot of your enterprise's financial, operational, and social performance... More »

Social Costs Case Study

Published in 2008 | Download [XLS] 53 KB

Example double bottom line income statement to test understanding of double bottom line reporting... More »

The Origin and Future of Social Entrepreneurship

Published in 2008 | Download [PDF] 1.81 MB

REDF Advisory Council Greg Dees presented “The Origin and Future of Social Entrepreneurship” at an event convened by REDF, The San Francisco Foundation, Tides Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation... More »

Social Cost Training, Article, and Tool

Published in 2008

Social enterprises often have costs above and beyond comparable for-profit businesses, due to the extra time and effort required to fulfill their social missions. Identifying these so-called "social costs," and tracking them separately from business-related costs, can help social enterprises better manage both business and social performance simultaneously. ... More »

Microfranchising at the Base of the Pyramid

Published in 2008 | Download [PDF] 386 KB
Posted by dlehr

David Lehr, Senior Advisor, Social Innovations, Mercy Corps... More »

"Financing Civil Society: A Practitioner’s View of the UK Social Investment Market".

Published in 2008 | Download [PDF] 577 KB
Posted by smullock

... More »

Assessment of Demand for Nonprofit Enterprise Support Services in Central Appalachia

Published in 2008 | Download [PDF] 342 KB
Posted by redf-content

The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and Appalachian Regional Commission commissioned the attached study, which is the most comprehensive survey of social enterprise activity in the region to date... More »

Green Collar Jobs: Pathways Out of Poverty for Bay Area Residents with Barriers to Employment

Published in 2008 | Download [PDF] 150 KB

A REDF-commissioned paper
Written by Raquel Pinderhughes, Ph.D., and David Schecter, MCP
REDF engaged San Francisco State researcher Dr. Raquel Pinderhughes and David Schecter to write this paper on green collar job opportunities for low income people with multiple barriers... More »

Strategic Planning Guide

Published in 2007 | Download [PDF] 92 KB

... More »

Guide to Social Costs

Published in 2007 | Download [PDF] 229 KB

This presentation answers the questions:

• What are social costs?
• Why identify and track social costs?
• How to identify and track social costs, and use them to manage my enterprise?

GOAL (Grid for Organizational Assessment and Learning)

Published in 2007 | Download [XLS] 90 KB

GOAL (Grid for Organizational Assessment and Learning) is a REDF portfolio capacity assessment tool . GOAL helps organizations and their funders understand... More »

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: Addressing the Critical Gaps in Risk-Taking Capital for Social Enterprise

Published in 2007
Posted by redf-content

Jed Emerson, Senior Fellow with Generation Foundation
Tim Freundlich, Calvert Foundation's Director of Strategic Development
Jim Fruchterman, President of Benetech

In this paper, the financial challenges that social enterprises face as they become more mature and successful are evaluated. The authors assert that the social enterprise sector lacks access to funding because there are almost no sources of expansion capital available. They call for further research into the needs of this quickly-expanding community... More »

From Fragmentation to Function: Critical Concepts and Writings on Social Capital

Published in 2007 | Download [PDF] 637 KB
Posted by redf-content

The Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship has published a paper on “social capital markets.” Co-authors Jed Emerson and Joshua Spitzer aim to focus future research with this paper, as well as increase investments that generate social and environmental value, in conjunction with financial performance... More »

Social Enterprise Typology

Published in 2007
Posted by redf-content

Kim Alter, Virtue Ventures, LLC
This analysis categorizes the range of social enterprise models in order to help readers navigate through the diverse and dynamic landscape of this emerging field. It organizes practitioners on a philanthropic-to-commercial spectrum... More »

REDF Pre-Feasibility Tool and Presentations

Published in 2007

This tool is designed to guide an organization through the pre-feasibility process and create output reports for stake holders... More »

REDF Social Enterprise Business Plan Template and Presentation

Published in 2007

This file outlines the main components of a social enterprise business plan, and offers guiding questions... More »

REDF Double Bottom Line Template

Published in 2007 | Download [XLS] 85 KB

This file offers two different double bottom line income statement formats (horizontal and vertical) to report and track ... More »

Thrift Store Management Dashboard and Presentation

Published in 2007

The Thrift Store Management Dashboard is used to generate a monthly dashboard to track performance of thrift stores... More »

Matchmaker - a REDF Tool

Published in 2007 | Download [XLS] 436 KB

The Matchmaker tool can be used to facilitate the evaluation of organizations in the due diligence process... More »

Social Enterprise 101 Presentation

Published in 2006 | Download [PDF] 133 KB

This presentation focuses on the basics of social enterprise, why nonprofits are considering social enterprise, developing earned income/social enterprise, applying the lessons REDF has learned, and more... More »

Social Enterprise - Farber Intern

Published in 2006 | Download [PDF] 239 KB
Posted by redf-content

Lauren Scopaz
Former REDF Farber Intern, Lauren Scopaz, wrote an article about her experience spending a summer working at Pedal Revolution, a social enterprise run by New Door Ventures in San Francisco... More »

Framing a Theory of Social Entrepreneurship: Building on Two Schools of Practice and Thought

Published in 2006 | Download [PDF] 132 KB
Posted by redf-content

J. Gregory Dees and Beth Battle Anderson
The future for the field of Social Enterprise lies in the intersection of the schools of Social Enterprise and Social Innovation. Future academic inquiry should focus on “enterprising social innovations” – carrying out innovations... More »

Teach the Homeless to Work, and Then...

Published in 2006 | Download [PDF] 240 KB

San Francisco Chronicle
An Open Forum article, written by Cynthia Gair, REDF’s Managing Director of Programs, offered a perspective in response to the Chronicle’s “Shame of the City” series... More »

Case Study: An Enterprising Failure

Published in 2006 | Download [PDF] 571 KB
Posted by redf-content

Paul Tracey and Owen Jarvis
This case study looks at the rise and fall of Aspire, one of the first Social Enterprises in the United Kingdom to expand through franchising... More »

“Must Read” Publications on Social Enterprise

Published in 2005 | Download [DOC] 47 KB
Posted by redf-content

This list includes publications recommended by Jim McClurg of Social Enterprise Alliance (Seattle, WA), Kay Sohl of TACS (Portland, OR) and Jed Emerson (Senior Fellow, Generation Foundation, of Generation Investment Management)... More »

Changing Lives, Changing Times

Published in 2003
Posted by redf-content

Meredith Maran
A timely look at Juma Ventures’ first decade. Chock full of Juma’s successes, lessons learned, and the great adventures along the way, this is an insider’s perspective on launching and sustaining social purpose enterprises and transforming lives... More »

Venture Forth! The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization

Published in 2002 | Download [PDF] 548 KB
Posted by redf-content

Rolfe Larson, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Excerpt downloadable. To purchase a complete hardcopy, contact Wilder Publishing Center at 1-800-274-6024 or online at www.wilder.org... More »

From Opening Doors to Closing Shop: A Case Study on Youth Industry’s Impact on Homeless Youth

Published in 2002 | Download [PDF] 960 KB

Why does an organization serving 100 homeless youth per year close? This case study is about Youth Industry, its origins and development, and ultimately how and why it closed its doors... More »

A Nonprofit Guide to Developing and Implementing An Income Stream Venture

Published in 2001 | Download [PDF] 463 KB
Posted by redf-content

Prepared by Clohesy Consulting, this guide builds on the Frequently Asked Questions section of The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund’s website... More »

Work as a Priority: A Resource Guide for Employing People who have a Serious Mental Illness and who are Homeless

Published in 2001
Posted by redf-content

Edited by Gary Shaheen, M.P.A., Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., Francine Mikloucich, M.A., and Deborah Dennis, M.A., both of the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness... More »

When is it Time to Say Goodbye? Exit Strategies and Venture Philanthropy Funds

Published in 2001 | Download [PDF] 162 KB

Written by Kim Alter, Paul Shoemaker, Melinda Tuan, Jed Emerson
This paper discusses various exit strategies within the context of venture philanthropy... More »

Unleashing New Resources and Entrepreneurship for the Common Good

Published in 1999 | Download [PDF] 204 KB
Posted by redf-content

A new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs – committed to using market-based approaches to solve social problems – is unleashing new ways of using resources for the public good... More »

Privatization, Competition and the Future of Human Services

Published in 1999 | Download [PDF] 106 KB
Posted by redf-content

Edward Skloot
Like most of us, as the famous jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes got older, he got progressively more absent-minded. Once, on a train trip to Washington, D.C., he was asked for his ticket, but could not locate it. He searched his pockets, his briefcase and his seat. No luck. He became increasingly distraught... More »

Managing the Double Bottom Line: A Business Plan for Social Enterprises

Published in 1999 | Download [PDF] 621 KB
Posted by redf-content

Sutia Kim Alter, Save the Children Federation
Excerpt downloadable. To purchase a complete hardcopy call Pact Publishing @ 202-466-5666 or www.pactpublications.com... More »

A Double ‘Bottom Line’: Lessons on Social-Purpose Enterprise from the Venture Fund Initiative

Published in 1999 | Download [PDF] 135 KB
Posted by redf-content

This report contains observations from the Venture Fund Initiative, a six-month inquiry into the state of social-purpose enterprises and their prospects for growth. In this discussion, the phrase “social-purpose enterprises”... More »

REDF Box Set — Social Purpose Enterprises and Venture Philanthropy in the New Millennium

Published in 1999

REDF and its Portfolio members produced this three volume set to answer three questions. First, practitioners within social purpose enterprises were asked... More »

The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship

Published in 1998 | Download [DOC] 51 KB
Posted by redf-content

Gregory Dees
The idea of “social entrepreneurship” has struck a responsive cord. It is a phrase well suited to our times. It combines the passion of a social mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and determination... More »

The Venture Fund Initiative: An Assessment of Current Opportunities for Social Purpose Business Development and Recommendations

Published in 1998 | Download [PDF] 436 KB

Writen by Jed Emerson
The Venture Fund Initiative was a six-month strategy and mapping process in six cities. The goal was to support community and regional efforts... More »

Beyond Welfare Reform: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality

Published in 1998 | Download [PDF] 59 KB

Writen by Jed Emerson
This is a briefing memo on unemployment, public assistance, and the role of business in creating exits from poverty... More »

New Social Entrepreneurs

Published in 1996

New Social Entrepreneurs: The Success, Challenge, and Lessons of Nonprofit Enterprise Creation was written to provide a report to the growing number of people interested in nonprofit business development... More »