There is a significant difference between volunteerism and social entrepreneurship. Most community service projects ask individuals to volunteer their time, donate goods, or contribute funds to meet an immediate need. These are vital and important tasks.

Social entrepreneurs ‘kick it up a notch’ by seeking to discover and then implement sustainable solutions to long-term social challenges.

Social entrepreneurs go far beyond simply making a difference. They work to transform the lives of others by empowering them to take control of a significant public issue and actually solve the underlying problem. They work in partnerships with other people and organizations.  They start by identifying the need in a society or local community and then developing imaginatively conceived and sustainable projects with a growth strategy. These strategies change the rules on the ground to give people control over their lives and their future.

The results are measurable; the projects are sustainable; the outcomes are scalable; the models are replicable.

The old adage was…

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a life time.

Social Entrepreneurs seek to…

Build a fishery; everybody eats and more people have a job.

The rules on the ground change. The social fabric is stronger.

The Skoll Foundation has recently completed a short film about the field of social entrepreneurship. Its a great overview of the progress made over the last three decades:

For more information on these and other social entrepreneurs, visit www.skollfoundation.org