Virtue Ventures is a small, innovative firm committed to furthering the field of social entrepreneurship through action-research, technical services and our own initiatives. Our practitioner-focused and mission-centered approach stems from being a creative team rooted in industry: Virtue Ventures partners and associates have first-hand experience designing, launching and managing social enterprises and nonprofit agencies. We have worked with literally hundreds of nonprofits and social enterprises, spanning sectors and industries in 35 countries worldwide. Since its incorporation in 2000, Virtue Ventures has received accolades for its high-quality services and excellent products. We bring unique functional experience and textured understanding of the nonprofit operating environment that is critical to rendering sound professional services customized to the needs of our clients.
Although we work with several types of clients, we are ultimately concerned with helping nonprofit practitioners create greater social value. At the same time, we recognize that fundraising, capacity, and sustainability are constant struggles of our nonprofit clients. Our experience shows us that social enterprise yields financial benefits and helps nonprofits achieve stronger organizations and lasting change. We work with nonprofits to design, implement and manage social enterprises as a mission-accomplishment and organizational strengthening strategy. In doing so, we take a holistic approach, helping clients align social mission and program objectives to enterprise activities; build institutional capacity and leadership; develop a results-oriented and entrepreneurial culture; and improve asset management and financial viability. In short, we help nonprofit practitioners clients to do what they do, only better.
Initiatives: “Building High Performance Social Enterprises” – is a practitioner-driven knowledge management and resource development project based on the following premises:
o Social enterprise is a means to unify social value creation and sustainability objectives within the context of an institution.
o The effects of social enterprise transcend all aspects of an institution: programs, operations, culture, and finance.
o Social enterprise is a mission accomplishment and organizational transformation tool.
o A wealth of untapped knowledge and experience exists among practitioners, yet it is uncoordinated, unshared and unleveraged.
o There is a lack of social enterprise resources, tools and materials for practitioners and there is demand for these resources from practitioners
This project is being conducted in partnership with Social Edge, Great Bay Foundation, Care Enterprise Partners, SEEP, Pact, and supported by the Skoll Foundation. The purpose of this project is to develop a practitioner-driven grassroots forum and process for identifying knowledge needs, developing and disseminating tools and resources, sharing experiences, evolving methodologies and best practices in the field of social enterprise. The first working group (SEEP) will be selected using criteria based on their willingness to build and test a grassroots knowledge management process and frame common themes in social enterprise field as a point of departure achieving a methodological framework for practitioners. Outputs for this initiative will be a conceptual framework for social enterprise from which to develop methodologies and technical tools; a virtual resource library, key action research questions distilled from practitioners to inform tool and resource development in a continuing phase of the project and four case studies to illustrate social enterprise as a vehicle for organizational strengthening and transformation. This project is international in scope and targets a range of social enterprises working across sectors in several countries. November 2006 through September 2008.
Action – Research: “Social Enterprise Legal Forms and Organizational Structures” – A paper commissioned by The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University analyzing the wide range of legal and organizational structures used by social enterprises worldwide. The study is intended as a practical tool for social enterprise practitioners to help them consider alternative structures to better serve their strategic objectives as well as a piece to edify academics and funders on current practice regarding legal forms and organizational structures. The paper organizes structures into broad categories according to their advantages and disadvantages. Country-specific examples and case studies will illustrate the broader discussion. Paper is forthcoming in 2008.
Technical Services:
• Social Enterprise Design and Start Up
• Income-Generation and Sustainability Strategies
• Market Analyses and Research
• Feasibility Studies
• Business Planning
• Strategic Planning
• Operations Management and Process Engineering
• Efficiency Planning and Resource Management
• Social Impact and Performance Measurement
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Financial Analysis and Management
• Accounting and Cost Accounting
• Program/Business/Product/Service Profitability Analysis
• Social Investment Advising
• Loan Review and Due Diligence
• Business Model and Organizational And Legal Structure
