Community Investment Resources
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Accounting
Business Plan Tools
Free Legal Resources
Funding and Financial Support
General Business Pitching Resources
General Social Enterprise Resources
Marketing and Advertising
Miscellaneous Startup and Venture Capital Specific Pitching Resources
Social Enterprise Pitching Resources
Strategic Planning and Consulting
Training
Accounting
Armanino McKenna - Nonprofit/Social Enterprise accounting expertise
Robert Pascual - Financial Management Consultant
Business Plan Tools
REDF - Venture Feasability worksheets and Business plan template
NeSST - Guidebook, worksheets, and case studies for business planning
Business Plan Pro - Software which guides you from assesssment through business plan writing
Fieldstone Alliance - Book which includes assessment through business plan writing
Root Cause - Business planning guidebook, for purchase or free download
Seedco - Comprehensive business plan writing toolkit, including financial worksheeets
SCORE - More generic small business planning tool
Free Legal Resources*
San Francisco Bar, Volunteer Legal Services (CORP) Program - Pro bono attorney matching, training seminars in San Francisco
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles - Pro bono attorney matching, LA area
Public Council - Largest pro bono public counsel in the world
Lex Mundi - Largest association of independent law firms
Pro bono assistance for members of the Social Enteprise Alliance
Neighborhood Legal Services of LA County - Provide legal support and pro bono for nonprofits in LA county
Public Law Center - Pro bono support for Orange County (based in Santa Ana)
Legal Aid Society of San Diego - Pro bono support for San Diego
*Note: most local Bar Associations have pro bono legal programs and some localities have nonprofit legal assistance centers.
Back to topFunding* and Financial Support
Ashoka - Fellowship program & financial support for social enterprise
Ben & Jerry's Foundation - Innovative social change & environmental impact funder
Calvert Foundation - SE Funder & Investor (global)
Draper Richards Foundation - Startup funding for Entreprneurs (new organizations)
Echoing Green - program & financial support for social enterprise
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation - Investment funding for youth serving enterprises
Global Giving - Online Funding matchmaking service
Good Capital - SE Investor (global)
Investors' Circle - SE Investment Aggregator
Kauffman Foundation - SE Funder
Living Cities - Loans for Urban SE projects
New Profit, Inc. - Nonprofit Venture Philanthropy Fund
Nonprofit Finance Fund - Financial consulting and fund support for Nonprofits
Northern California Community Loan Fund - Loans and Financial Consulting to Nonprofits
Omidyar Network - SE Funder (global)
Patient Capital Collaborative - SE Investor working with Investor's Circle
Partners for the Common Good - Loans for Nonprofits and Community Organizations
REDF - SE Funder and information resource
RISE - Searchable database of for profit SE investors
Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Initiative - supporting open/user-driven projects worldwide
SeaChange Capital Partners - SE Investor for nonprofits
Skoll Foundation - SE Funder (global)
ShoreBank - SE & Community Development Loans
Social Edge Funding Wiki - SE Funding Global Database
Underdog Investors - SE Investment Fund
U.S. Bancorp Foundation - U.S. Economic opportunity initiatives
W.K. Kellogg Foundation - Mission-driven investments in SE
*Note: Many communities have community development banks or loan funds that support nonprofits at favorable rates.
General Business Pitching Resources
The Art of The Fast Pitch: Your Business Plan in One Minute Flat
Back to topMarketing & Advertising
American Marketing Association - Membership organization, network, recognition, information resource
Cable TV Advertising Bureau - Membership organization for Cable TV advertising, information resource
Cause Marketing Forum - Socially oriented marketing resource
ClickZ - Interactive Marketing resource & news site
Cable TV Association of Marketers - Membership organization, news
Emarketer - Online marketing research, information resource
Google Adwords - for Nonprofits
Internet Advertising Bureau - Membership organization, news & training, policy
National Association of Broadcasters - Membership organization for TV, information resource, policy
Radio Advertising Bureau - Membership organization for radio stations, policy
Small Business Association - Small business marketing basics and planning resources
Taproot - Service grants for marketing and branding consulting
Miscellaneous Startup and Venture Capital specific Pitching Resources
Sample video pitches from the Demo conference. View a whole range of winning pitches from the premier annual tech startup pitch event. Click on Demo08 to view the “DemoGods” winning pitches:
How to demo your startup. Some good advice from demo guru Jason Calacanis on TechCrunch:
How to do a Fundraising Pitch. A collection of resources and guidelines for making VC targeted pitches:
Guy Kawasaki’s Blog: “My New Year’s Resolution: I will Fix My Pitch”. Focused on VC pitching, but some useful ideas and tactics
How NOT to write a Business Plan. Focused on VC pitches, but some useful ideas on just getting the important stuff out front.
Video of the Cambodia Project Pitch for the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition. Note: sound and video quality is poor, as is the presentation. Although professionally done, more of a lesson in what NOT to do in a pitch.
Social Enterprise Pitching Resources
The Social Entrepreneur’s 5 Minute Pitch, Social Edge
Back to top
Social Enterprise Resources
Ashoka - Global social enterprise projects/fellowships
Cause Marketing Forum - Advertising & marketing tools and strategies
Changemakers - Social Enterprise forum and project examples
Innovations Journal (MIT) - Journal
National Center for Social Entrepreneurs - Information resource
Net Impact - Information resource
Omidyar Network - Social Enterprise Funder (global)
REDF - Social Enterprise Funder and information resource
Skoll Foundation - Social Enterprise Funder (global)
Social Edge - Online discussion forum
Social Enterprise Alliance - Support network & information resource
Social Innovation Conversations - Informational podcasts
Social Venture Network - Information resource, Forum, Support Network
Stanford Graduate School of Social Innovation - Information resource
The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs - Information resource
Strategic Planning and Consulting*
Bridgespan - Nonprofit Management Consulting (paid)
Community Wealth Ventures - Management consulting to nonprofits on social enterprise (paid)
Net Impact - Global network of local MBA chapters & students that can be tapped for specific projects
Root Cause SE Business planning consultancy and research firm (paid)
Social Enterprise Alliance - SE Consultant listing (for paid members of SEA)
Social Enterprise Group - Strategic business planning, workshops and training for SEs
Taproot - Pro bono branding & HR help
Virtue Ventures - Strategic business planning, workshops and training for SEs
*Note: Many local business schools and universities have MBA support programs for nonprofits
Back to topTraining
FastTrac - Comprehensive small business development training program, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation
Social Enterprise Group - Strategic business planning, workshops and training for SEs (paid). Beginning to advanced SEs
Social Enterprise Ventures - 9 month & 1-2 Day intensive training programs for Nonprofits wanting to start a venture (paid)
Bonus Idea
Capture your pitch in a video and share it on a mobile device using a service like MyWaves, Juicecaster, Veeker or Eyespot to name just a few.
You can also film your pitch and upload it onto the Web via YouTube, Google Video or any number of online video services.
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