Heartland Center board explores “Social Entrepreneurship”

Social entrepreneurship, the concept that nonprofits must deal with earning revenue as part of their mission, was the topic of this year’s annual retreat. Heartland Center board members gathered at Mahoney State Park in eastern Nebraska for their annual overnight retreat and strategy session in October. The evening social gave board members a chance to catch up on personal news and travels while the next day was a work session on the future of the organization.

Jerr Boschee, well known as one of the first proponents of social entrepreneurship for nonprofit organizations, explained that the concept requires an organization to create some revenue stream that will sustain its overall mission and goals. Boschee used many examples of nonprofit organizations that have created businesses by targeting client audiences or charging fees for services, or even developing enterprises that are entirely separate from the organization. Historically, most nonprofits with a social services focus have been somewhat hostile to this idea, but that reaction has been moderated by changes in funding sources in the last few years.

Board members agreed that the session was valuable not only for the Center, but for their own knowledge and leadership roles. “I am so grateful for this type of board development opportunity. It’s one of the reasons that I value my membership on the Heartland Center board,” said member Cornelia Flora.

President Carol Gould, Kansas, agreed that the next meeting of the Heartland Center board will continue the discussion and that the impact of this retreat will be far reaching. According to Gould, “We have many things to consider for the long term future of the Heartland Center and this retreat has helped inform our future discussions.” Board members attending included: Carol Gould, Kansas, Cornelia Flora, Iowa, Gordon Goodwin, Texas, Peter Bleed, Elaine Stuhr, Craig Schroeder and Larry Dlugosh, all from Nebraska. Those members unable to participate were Chuck Fluharty, Missouri, and Jose Zapata, Nebraska.

For more information on the topic of social entrepreneurship for nonprofits, visit www.socialent.org.