Social Entrepreneurship Corps and Robin Hood Foundation Compared

Introduction: Social Value Propositions

This paper examines two organizations operating in the social sector — the Social Entrepreneurship Corps (SEC) and the Robin Hood Foundation — analyzing their missions, theories of change, financial models, and strategic challenges, and evaluating whether each qualifies as a genuine social enterprise.

The Social Entrepreneurship Corps: Model and Mission

The social value proposition of the Social Entrepreneurship Corps is to enable communities by providing them with the means to improve their economy and quality of life. The key theory of change is that intelligent development assistance will give people the means to overcome the obstacles standing in the way of their development. The SEC has identified that communities often receive relief assistance, but that true change is substantively different from relief. The mechanism of change it proposes is to bring outside knowledge to help the community find a new equilibrium — defined by the SEC as having revolutionized ways of doing things, shepherding the community through an evolutionary leap rather than making merely incremental changes.

To achieve these ends, the SEC marshals student volunteers for the bulk of its labor. It derives logistical support from a host NGO, Community Enterprise Solutions, and is partnered with a number of universities to provide its labor pool. The SEC does not maintain a balanced budget. It derives income from donations, but also from a share of profits generated by the entrepreneurship activities of its programs. Its portfolio can be improved mainly through the continued development of entrepreneurial activities, which represent an earned income stream. These activities not only help finance the organization but are also its core business — the money comes from profits earned in the local businesses that SEC volunteers have helped to start.

SEC Financial Sustainability and Strategic Challenges

The SEC is likely to face a budget crunch. The prevailing economic situation is likely to result in decreased donations, and the organization was already expecting to contract its budget in 2009. Cost reductions are the only real solution that can be enacted in the short run. The key strength of the organization lies in the skill of its leadership, which has been leveraged to deliver genuine solutions and secure a supply of volunteer labor from the West.

This organization is an example of social enterprise because it moves beyond mere aid and works to create entrepreneurship that will spur social and economic development within the community. The earned income component is central to this classification: the SEC generates revenue through the local businesses it helps establish, linking its financial sustainability directly to the community outcomes it seeks to produce.

The Robin Hood Foundation: Model and Mission

The Robin Hood Foundation has the mission of being a more efficient charity. It believes that the limited pool of charitable donations can be deployed more effectively, and thereby deliver greater benefit to recipients. The main mechanism of change is professional assistance — Robin Hood brings more than money to the table by corralling the skills of corporate partners to donate professional expertise to projects that would otherwise be less effective. In doing this, Robin Hood seeks to fight poverty by pulling people out of it.

Corporate partners donate time and skills in order to provide the management assistance that many charitable projects lack. Robin Hood also acts as a fundraising arm, securing donations from corporate backers. By combining financial contributions with high-quality management expertise, the Foundation aims to maximize the impact of every dollar directed toward poverty alleviation.