Social entrepreneurship idea development

Social Business programme

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Our surveys show that the vast majority of domestic non-profit organisations are under-resourced. In addition, most of its revenue comes from a single type of income (e.g. from a public normative, 1%, private donations or grants).

According to our resilience model, one of the conditions for sustainable operation is a sufficiently diversified revenue structure: the greater the share of this revenue that comes from own revenue-generating activities (e.g. product sales, service provision), the more sustainable the organisation.

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The aim of the programme

In order to develop revenue-generating activities, we are launching the first cohort of our Social Business programme in Hungary and Poland, in partnership and with the support of FaSe, Ashoka and PwC. The aim is that the non-profit organisations participating in the programme.

  • identify social entrepreneurship opportunities that fit their mission and core business
  • prioritise and develop a business model for the most viable business idea
  • prepare a financial plan and presentation of the business idea with the help of an individual mentor
  • access to start-up finance for a viable business plan to realise the business idea.

The programme is for you if you

  • you have been carrying out your core business for at least three years,
  • the organisation has at least three stable colleagues (including volunteers who devote at least 40 hours a month to the organisation),
  • your annual income from any source exceeds 5 MFt,
  • you are motivated to learn new skills
  • for the next six months, you will spend at least 2 hours a week developing your business idea and then be ready to implement it.

Structure of the programme

Application period

2022.03.17. - 2022.03.31.

To apply, you will be asked to provide basic information.

Selection of participants

2022.03.31. - 2022.04.07.

From the applications submitted, the organisers will select and notify the participants of the programme, which will start in April. We also prepare your resilience status assessment. You will also receive a detailed recommendation on what other areas, in addition to your own income generation, you should develop to become sustainable and have a greater social impact
Online workshops
  • 2022. 04. 11. (Monday) 14:00-17:00 - Basic concepts, understanding the challenge, stakeholders, stakeholder life cycle
  • 2022. 04. 25. (Monday) 14:00-17:00 - Time dimension (output & outcome), problem and target tree, impact chain, indicators
  • 2022. 05. 10. (Tuesday) 14:00-17:00 - Social Business Model Canvas - stakeholder value proposition, relationships, channels
  • 2022. 05. 24. (Tuesday) 14:00-17:00 - Social Business Model Canvas - partners, key activities, revenues, costs, impact
    • Individual mentoring

    Based on the completed Social Business Model Canvas, three teams will be selected together with the mentors, who will then receive four months of individual mentoring from PwC Hungary experts to prepare the financial plan and presentation of their social business idea.

    At the end of the programme, the completed presentation and financial plan will be reviewed by our funding partners and, if deemed viable, a funding proposal will be made to start your social entrepreneurship activities.

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    Why should you apply?

    Professional development

    During the development process, you will learn through experiential learning the basics of stakeholder mapping, business design, social business model canvas and turn the idea into a professional financial plan.
    Along the way, you will also be introduced to the basics of social impact measurement by Impact Academy experts (basic concepts, why it matters, impact measurement indicators, impact chain and impact measurement plan).

    Mentoring and networking

    Three of the participating teams will receive individual mentoring from PwC experts, providing them with not only professional knowledge but also important contacts.

    Financing possibility

    At the end of the programme, the projects will be presented to our funding partners, who can provide seed funding for viable social entrepreneurship ideas.

    Application conditions, information about participation

    The programme lasts 2+4 months.

    Operational social purpose organisations can participate in the programme, but no prior qualifications are required.

    The programme consists of online workshops and individual mentoring sessions.

    The workshops are 3 hours each, with approximately. 2 hours should be devoted to individual work.

    The teams qualifying for the individual mentoring phase are approximately. spend 1 hour with their mentors every two weeks and are assigned 2-3 hours of work between mentoring sessions.

    In total, the first two months of participating teams will spend around. 20 hours of your time, and the following 4 months will take about. an additional 30 hours of capacity

    The programme is essentially delivered online.

    The participation fee for the first two months of the training is HUF 30,000 + VAT, and the mentoring is supported pro bono by PwC.

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    The organisers of the Social Business programme

    For more than 25 years, Ashoka Hungary has been working to build a solid network of Hungary’s leading social innovators. To date, more than 35 Ashoka members have been selected, all of whom are creating systemic change in areas such as health, the cilvil sector, the economy, the environment, education and human rights. We are creating an ecosystem for Ashoka members to thrive; an environment where the work of change agents is more transparent within a secure legal framework, and which supports their plans and ideas for social change – their vocation – with know-how, strategic partnerships, coaching, financial tools.

    The German organisation FASE (Social Enterprise Finance Agency) was set up to promote impact investing across Europe. We are working to build bridges between excellent social entrepreneurs and investors, so that together they can drive positive social change.
    We help our social enterprise clients increase their impact through professional fundraising opportunities. In our nine years of operation, we have been involved in 65 successful transactions, resulting in more than €40 million of investments.

    Scale Impact connects impact organisations that are willing and able to grow with companies that are keen to support good causes. Partly from these corporate grants, the NGO or social enterprise is involved in a development process, at the end of which it becomes more resilient and has a clear picture of how it can multiply its impact (i.e. positive impact). Our mission is to support the amplification of the social and environmental impact that impact organisations are making. We believe in systemic change, which can be achieved through the cooperation of all participants.

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    If you have further questions about the programme, please contact us!

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