Poverty Alleviation: Increasing Nonprofit Participation in earned income strategies to defeat poverty
Our goal is simple: to eliminate poverty, period. Our vision is to pursue this goal by empowering the organizations & businesses that work to address the root causes of poverty by helping them to develop & implement innovative new tools & approaches to their work that allow them to carry out their mission more effectively. We want to enable nonprofits to create sustainable market based solutions to the root causes and consequences of poverty. We also want to assist business leaders to start new social enterprises or make the transition from a traditional profit centered model into a social & environmental mission focused Social Enterprise. We want business owners & nonprofit managers to live out their values through their organizations, & increase their net revenue for sustainability.
About You
About You
First Name
Telvin
Last Name
Debnam
Facebook Profile
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Entrepôt/121462184593082
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Entrepôt
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, NC
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, XX
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
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Innovation
Entry Form title
Poverty Alleviation: Increasing Nonprofit Participation in earned income strategies to defeat poverty
What change do you want to bring to the world?
Our goal is simple: to eliminate poverty, period. Our vision is to pursue this goal by empowering the organizations & businesses that work to address the root causes of poverty by helping them to develop & implement innovative new tools & approaches to their work that allow them to carry out their mission more effectively. We want to enable nonprofits to create sustainable market based solutions to the root causes and consequences of poverty. We also want to assist business leaders to start new social enterprises or make the transition from a traditional profit centered model into a social & environmental mission focused Social Enterprise. We want business owners & nonprofit managers to live out their values through their organizations, & increase their net revenue for sustainability.
What are the primary activities of your project?
Our primary activities include :
• venture development
• capacity building for nonprofits,
• ecosystem development,
• Entrepreneurial leadership development and venture management training for low resource individuals and communities.
• Employment services,
• crowd funding
• Board development
• Single to triple bottom line transition management
• Marketing and community outreach
• Social media implementation
• Volunteer recruitment, management, and training
• Venture philanthropy
• Sustainability planning
• Collaboration and partnership strategy development
• Corporate Social Responsibility
We want to enable nonprofits to create sustainable market based solutions to the root causes and consequences of poverty. We also want to assist business leaders to start new social enterprises or make the transition from a traditional profit centered model into a social and environmental mission focused Social Enterprise. We want our work to not only allow business owners and non-profit managers to live out their values through their business or accomplish their organizational mission, but increase their net revenue as well. By doing so we will not only increase the organizations’ sustainability, but gradually address arguably the single greatest foe of poverty alleviation; the false dichotomy between making profit and making the world a better place.
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
Our primary activity is assisting new and existing nonprofits integrate earned income and market based strategies into their activities and programming. The transition for some nonprofits to earned income strategies may at first seem like mission drift especially those focused on the areas closely related to poverty.
In addition to venture development, our secondary activity is connecting individuals who leave rehabilitation, shelter, and outreach type organizations with groups and organizations that work specifically to place the underserved in gainful employment and/or assist in creating ventures.
These activities in themselves exist separately, but not conjunction with one another. This program can increase nonprofits revenue if done effectively. Additionally, it can decrease dependence on grants and donations while increasing the impact they have in their various communities. By developing social ventures that address the mission of the nonprofit/business, depending on the venture it can allow the underserved to help gain work experience, build self confidence and give back to the organization.
Individuals leaving rehabilitation, half-way, shelter and recovery programs often find it difficult to reenter the workforce. Our focus is to ensure we connect those individuals with organizations that want them to succeed.
What stage is your project in?
Idea phase
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
We work specifically with organizations that address the root causes and consequences of poverty. For example:
• Homelessness
• Inner City & Rural Youth Development
• Juvenile Delinquency
• Drug Abuse
• Academic achievement gap
• Affordable housing
• Teen Parents
• Mental Health
• Domestic Abuse
• Underemployment
• Education
These represent wide array of nonprofits, but all are aspects of a greater web that at its center is poverty. We work solely in the United States, but will advise nonprofits worldwide through case studies and best practices analysis.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
Telvin D. Debnam- CEO/Founder was born in Raleigh, NC and raised in Youngsville, a small town north of Raleigh. Telvin is a 2008 graduate of North Carolina Central University (B.A. in Political Science). Telvin is currently pursuing his Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Social Entrepreneurship. He is also a 2010 NCCU Social Entrepreneurship Fellow. Through the fellowship, he is working with Bull City Forward to develop an entrepreneurial leadership program for teen parents in city of Durham. Telvin is also is assisting Bull City Forward develop its low to moderate wealth enterprise and community outreach strategy. He views poverty as the greatest issue that America faces and most ills that people face find their source in poverty. To address poverty, he believes that one must have a multi-prong attack on not only poverty, but the root causes and consequences as well. Poverty is a cycle that needs to be broken throughout, lest another link will form. He also believes in the power of social enterprise as transformative force that can help a floundering organization grow and prosper. In an effort to address poverty more comprehensively, He and Co-founder George Morse decided that the best way to address poverty is to enable the organizations that fight poverty directly instead of creating a whole new organization to address particular issues.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
Our project is still in the idea phase, but we have engaged our collective networks and have had positive engagement and feedback from many of our mentors and colleagues. Although, we are developing our organization, its aims and objectives we have decided on some initial goals that would mean success for our first year. They are as follows:
• Raise $200,000 in seed or start up funding within first year.
• Secure 501c3 nonprofit status
• Complete 7 ventures within first 12 months
• Ensure 150 impoverished individuals gain employment with a living wage.
• Host 4 Poverty sector conferences that discuss issues related to poverty; allows professionals and thought leaders in the areas related to poverty to connect and network; and also allow organizations to recruit and provide organizational info to prospective employees.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
Fewer than 100
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
1,001-10,000
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
We expect significant organizational, geographical, and capacity growth over the next three years. We expect to add 7- 10 employees, add 2 offices outside of the triangle area. (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) Our aim for our first year is to become a statewide source of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. We want to become a cross sector bridge between organizations that address the root causes and consequences of poverty.
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
We believe in the mission, goals and ambitious strategy of our organization. However, we do realize that there are barriers that may delay or cause an interruption in our progress. They are as follows:
• Lack of financial capital.
• Lack of clarity about “social innovation” among the public
• Lack of clear, data-driven correlation between social innovation and economic development
• Fragility inherent in early-stage venture
• Limited staff experience and staff time
• Lack of financial security
• Over-promising/under-delivering
• Social innovation concept not understood or embraced
• Inability to communicate mission and impact
• Committing to activities that do not build on strengths and mission drift
• Staffing capacity
Tell us about your partnerships
We will work with organizations across the nonprofit and business spectrum that are either working to address the root causes and consequences of poverty or are passionate about poverty alleviation. We rely on our partnerships with Bull City Forward, NC Central University, Duke University, Durham Cares and the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce for thought leadership, mentorship and strategic support. We will work with organizations that rehabilitate and shelter the disadvantaged such as TROSA, Durham Rescue Mission, and Urban Ministries to develop ventures that address the missions of these organizations as well as create sources of revenue to build organizational capacity. In addition, as part of our mission to address poverty, we will work with INSTEPP, Manpower, and other employment services organizations to help the impoverished acquire gainful employment. We want to connect with the local Universities, Public Allies, Americorp, and Bull City Forward to engage, develop, and train young adults interested in pursuing a career in social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
Please select
Explain your selections
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
We expect significant organizational, geographical, and capacity growth over the next three years. We expect to add 7- 10 employees, add 2 offices outside of the triangle area. (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) Our aim for our first year is to become a statewide source of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation. We want to become a cross sector bridge between organizations that address the root causes and consequences of poverty.
Challenges
Which barriers to employment does your innovation address?
Please select up to three in order of relevancy to your project.
PRIMARY
Restricted access to new markets
SECONDARY
Lack of skills/training
TERTIARY
Lack of access to information and networks
Please describe how your innovation specifically tackles the barriers listed above.
Are you trying to scale your organization or initiative?
If yes, please check up to three potential pathways in order of relevancy to you.
PRIMARY
Grown geographic reach: Within host country
SECONDARY
Influenced other organizations and institutions through the spread of best practices
TERTIARY
Repurposed your model for other sectors/development needs
Please describe which of your growth activities are current or planned for the immediate future.
Do you collaborate with any of the following: (Check all that apply)
NGOs/Nonprofits, For profit companies, Academia/universities.
If yes, how have these collaborations helped your innovation to succeed?
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Comments
I think your goal and vision is really great. Reading what you've written so far, however, I wonder if it is too broad. Because the mission is so broad it was difficult for me to grasp exactly what your organization is going to do. Is it essentially a consulting firm to help non-profits become self-sustainable? It might be helpful to either narrow the scope for this particular competition or be more specific in what you plan to do with the organization. Overall, I think you have some great stuff going on!
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