Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a course at The Fund Raising School course in Indianapolis, Indiana held by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. You might ask...what does philanthropy have to do with business? In our fast-paced global economy, the two become more intertwined every day. The lessons learned in the for-profit world are making their way to the non-profit world and vice versa.
For instance, the participants of the course were a social entrepreneur in one form or another each with multiple goals for their organizations. In order for social entrepreneurs to achieve their goals, they must understand the demographic trends and leverage business and personal networks to create business solutions and mission-based solutions. Sound familiar? This is the same model applied in the for-profit world. Additionally, as a social entrepreneur you are utilizing some form of a virtual business model. Two of my colleagues in the course were from The Dubai School of Government. This is a not-for-profit public policy institution that heavily leverages a virtual business model including a partnership with the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Talk about a international business solution model.
Before the end of the course, I was able to connect with my colleagues from Dubai and a colleague who lives between Chicago and London but is a native of Nigeria. Our group represents a potential global virtual business in the future.
Next time you are involved with philanthropic organization, you might want to pay close attention to the operations of the organization. You may find a useful "best practice" for your business. Who knew the for-profit entrepreneur world could learn from the social entrepreneur by way of Dubai? If you did, you and your organization are ahead of the curve.
Be+Do+Solve
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