Case Study
Social Entrepreneurship

Task-specific

• Outline:

  • What exactly is the problem your social enterprise is trying to solve?

  • Who does the problem impact exactly?

  • Where exactly does the problem occur?

  • When exactly does the problem occur?

• Present a photograph illustrating each of the Who, What, Where and When. Present a hyperlinked source in the caption of each photo (e.g. Photo: NY Times, 2010).

• List at least two recent and relevant (to what, where, when, who) news articles in the form of MLA references.

• Present one relevant (to what, where, when, who) statistic from an authoritative source (e.g. 25% of children in rural Vietnam do not go to school beyond the age of 13. - UNDP)

Task-specific

• Identify three other existing social enterprises that tackle a similar problem as the one you are analyzing. 

• State the web address of their organization's website (homepage).

• Present the logo or a relevant photograph of the organisation.

• State the official mission statement of the organization.

• List similarities and differences when comparing the organization with the social enterprise assigned to you.

Task-specific

Develop a factsheet about your chosen social enterprise in which you:

• State and explain the mission statement

• Present the logo

• State at least three facts you learned about the problem that you did not know before.

• State at least three questions you currently still have about the social enterprise.

• Present evidence of the severity of the problem the social enterprise is trying to alleviate (statistics, photos, news articles etc.)

• List MLA references to the top 3 sources that were most useful in your research

Task-specific

Select a minimum of 5 of the judging criteria for Phoenix Nest that you feel could be useful to judge your social enterprise. For each judging criterion:

• Describe a 'test' that suggests how you would test/judge it. In other words: How would you gather the qualitative or quantitative data you would need to make an evidence-based judgement?

  • Observations: Can you go somewhere and observe?

  • Consultation: Are there experts you could interview?

  • Survey: Are there larger groups of people you could survey?

  • Secondary sources: Are there online or offline media you could consult? Stakeholder reports? Statistical information? Testimonials?

• Prioritize the valuable each 'test' would be to come to a judgement about the quality of the social enterprise.

  • ★☆☆☆ could give some data about the quality of the enterprise

  • ★★☆☆ could give data about the quality of the enterprise

  • ★★★☆ Will give some great data about the quality of the enterprise

  • ★★★★ Will give great data about the quality of the enterprise

Task-Specific

For each of the 5 judging criteria for Phoenix Nest you identified before:

• State your opinion on how well the organization is doing in relation to the judging criterion (pretend you are the judge):

  • ★☆☆☆: Weakpoint

  • ★★☆☆: They are doing ok

  • ★★★☆: They are doing well

  • ★★★★: Real strength 

• Explain your opinion with evidence from research. E.g. photographs, statistics, information from stakeholder reports, certification, partnerships, sponsorships, endorsement etc. Make sure you identify the sources of your evidence.

Task-Specific

• Describe at least three opportunities for improvement or growth for the social enterprise.

• For each, identify the 'area' of improvement: Technical, marketing, business strategy, innovation. These areas are related to the categorization of the judging criteria for Phoenix Nest.

Task-specific

• State the impact of the enterprise on the community it is trying to help.

• Present photographic evidence of this impact

• Describe why you would recommend investing in this enterprise

• Describe one hesitation you might have when investing in this enterprise.