How to Engage Customers in Social Good

Gone are the days of customers supporting sketchy brands with questionable political opinions and underage workers – or are they?

According to a survey conducted by PR firm Edelman, consumers will pay up to support socially conscious brands. In fact, in a survey, 70% of consumers said they would pay more to support good causes, and more than 50% said they would help promote such businesses. The problem? Only 39% of consumers knew of such brands. And if consumers are not aware of socially conscious brands, how are they supposed to support and promote them?

To make consumers more aware of social enterprises, it’s important to engage them in social good. Here are two ways a brand can do that:

Choose a specific issue

Broad stances on themes, such as environmental justice, are all good and well, but to involve people in social good, it’s crucial to define what environmental justice (or any other cause) means to you. Then, find a way to make that theme actionable – it could be rallies and marches, it could be calling certain companies and asking about their environmental policies… pick your action.

Provide various ways to participate

People differ – our personalities, preferences and work schedules all differ, and those working at social enterprises should respect that. Offer people a chance to participate in different ways – through social media, by calling senators and other leaders, by organizing marches – just make sure to unify your message.

 

Source:

Entrepreneur (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298946)

AdAge (http://adage.com/article/news/edelman-consumers-pay-support-socially-conscious-marketers/122084/)

Is For-Profit Social Enterprise The Impact Model of The Future?

As anyone into social entrepreneurship knows, social enterprises can generally be structured as non-profit and for-profit organizations. But no matter their structure, what separates social enterprises from other business enterprises, is the fact that their social mission, whatever it may be, is as important to their success (if not more) as any potential profit.

But which one of these social enterprises can have more impact: the non-profit or for-profit enterprise? According to Prayag Narula, CEO, and co-founder of LeadGenius, it’s for-profit social enterprises that can not only have more impact but are the impact model for the future. Here are some of the reasons why Narula believes that.

• A for-profit enterprise is more sustainable than a non-profit enterprise, as it doesn’t have to rely on donations and grant money.

• A for-profit business can scale in ways a non-profit business cannot, and for social enterprises, the greater the profit, the greater the impact.

• Compared to conventional businesses, social enterprises have an advantage: today, investors, business partners, and customers prefer a company that is doing more than just providing a product/service. They would rather spend their money on companies that are not only offering a great product but are also doing good (and rightly so!).

• Social enterprises have another advantage and this one is concerning hiring and retaining staff. Just like customers, employees to prefer working for a company whose goals and values are aligned with their own.

 

Source:

Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/12/22/the-forprofit-social-enterprise-is-the-impact-model-of-the-future/#4d72ac425571)

How Technology Powers Social Entrepreneurship Ventures

In a world where billions of people are connected together via social media, the ways of communication and the dissemination of information have drastically changed. Before the era of social media, any organization which needed to get their message out there needed a large monetary power in order to advertise through traditional methods of communication. With the internet and social media, even the small players with a great vision can attract a large following as long as they perform well, stick to their values, maintain the integrity and carry out a strategic social media plan which does not need a great capital.

Due to the ever-evolving information and communication technology, a social enterprise can target virtually billions of people around the world now. Crowdfunding is another great benefit that technology brought in favor of good causes such as social enterprises which struggle in terms of funds and finances. Crowdfunding allows people who believe in a cause to donate money to them which can largely take away the burdens that come to social enterprises with investors to make profits which allow them to focus more on delivering solutions to a good cause instead.

Technology also allows social enterprises to increase the scope of impact. By being able to spread their story to billions all over the world, they are able to inspire others to take action in the causes that they believe in.

 

Sources – https://www.managementstudyguide.com/role-of-technology-in-social-entrepreneurship.htm

Current Global Challenges Social Entrepreneurs are Tackling

There are social entrepreneurs all around the world who are tackling global challenges in creative and innovative ways, making this world a better place to be. These social issues are varied and belong to a large spectrum that covers all kinds of communities from all over the world. Let us look at a few issues which are focused by social entrepreneurs and how they bring about solutions for them.

With the growth and the popularity of information and communication technology, many social entrepreneurs are using their tech skills to bring solutions to social issues. Kisan Network by Aditya Agarwal is an online marketplace for farmers in India. With the use of a smartphone app, he helps the farmers to facilitate sales between the farmers and buyers without the need of a middleman.

Sex education for young adults is another issue tacked by social entrepreneurs. With pilot programs in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the Young Love organization by Noam Angril conducts awareness programs about the spread of venereal diseases and how to practice safe intimate relationships with young people.

Early childhood care and education in families below the poverty line in developing countries are tacked by the successful social enterprise of Kidogo founded by Afzal and Sabrina Habib who focus on East Africa’s urban slum regions. They use a hub model to conduct early childhood education centers which provide both childcare and preschool services along with educational programs for young mothers.

 

Source – https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-2017/social-entrepreneurs