For the Union Project, what began as a cost-saving solution to an expensive problem has grown into a unique social enterprise. In 2002, the founders of the Union Project purchased the vacant Union Baptist Church in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The church was in desperate need of renovations; in particular, its numerous stained glass windows had suffered from one hundred years of neglect, pollution, and harsh weather. Executive Director Jessica King and Associate Director Justin Rothshank received bids for the restoration work for over $1 million.

With financial support from Citibank, the Community Foundation for Monterey County California (CFMC) sponsored a Business Ventures Institute (BVI) to assist local nonprofits who are developing social enterprises. This partnership between the Community Foundation, Citibank and a local social enterprise consultant is a good example of community support for regional social enterprise development. There are over 400 active nonprofits in this primarily rural county on the Central Coast of California.

Social sector organizations need efficient technology to maximize their impact. Whether you are planning the logistics of feeding refugees, advocating for human rights or providing clean water, well-designed technology tools help you make the best use of available resources and deliver the desired benefits. Even social enterprises that are not explicitly technology-based can benefit from strategies borrowed from the hightech community.

Social sector organizations need efficient technology to maximize their impact. Whether you are planning the logistics of feeding refugees, advocating for human rights or providing clean water, well-designed technology tools help you make the best use of available resources and deliver the desired benefits. Even social enterprises that are not explicitly technology-based can benefit from strategies borrowed from the hightech community.

The United States is facing a growing gap between the numbers of available jobs and individuals in the workforce. Over the next 30 years, 76 million baby boomers will retire, and only 46 million Generation X and Y workers will enter the labor force. In order to fill that gap, employers will need to be creative and innovative, and reach out to populations that have been traditionally underutilized and marginalized, such as senior citizens, welfare recipients and previously incarcerated persons.

Many nonprofit leaders believe that given the right attention, resources and expertise, they can build social enterprises; however, they aren’t sure how to proceed. This has spurred organizations to engage the assistance of MSOs in considering, developing and launching non-grant dependent business ventures. When launching a social enterprise, nonprofits need to consider several factors: changes in organizational culture, creating business plans, bridging the gap between vision and a lack of skills, addressing other pitfalls, and determining how the enterprise will empower their clients.

Amy Casavina Hall is Director of Civic Engagement and Outreach for the Institute for Nonprofit Development at Mount Wachusett Community College in Central Massachusetts. The Institute is a membership- driven MSO that operates in an area that houses an isolated mix of rural and urban non-profits with budgets of less than $200,000. In her role as Institute Director, Casavina Hall has helped design a new certificate program for entrepreneurs and created the curriculum for both a grant-writing course and a course on social entrepreneurship.

There’s nothing more satisfying than watching your non-profit grow. But as it expands, the demands of managing accounting functions can rapidly change. In a matter of months, you may need quicker, more in-depth financial reporting to keep pace with financial developments or to deal with the effects of new corporate governance procedures. Then it’s time to ask, “To outsource, or not to outsource?” What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is the process of obtaining goods or services from outside vendors.

A delegation of British social entrepreneurs and government leaders attentively watch and nod as they see stories unfold about people formerly living on the margins of society in Seattle—including ex-offenders and drug abusers—who have turned their lives around. Everyone in the room is animated when the short video ends. The questions that follow reveal the delegation’s hunger for information.

We have all witnessed similar management log jams which allowed foreseeable costs, staffing or market factors to overwhelm passive nonprofit organizations. But nonprofits are now under more pressure than ever to adapt quickly because of the accelerating rate of change in technologies, government policies and globalization. Unfortunately, when forced to change, many organizations become roiled in endless meetings, gossip and indecision.