make an
IMPACT
Nexus serves profit and nonprofit organizations who are (or want to explore becoming) an impact-based business or social enterprise. We can help you with equipping resources to embed social impact and sustainable revenue streams into your business model and use your business for good!
FOR-PROFIT REPORTING
How are you embedding social impact?
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Impact through Product/Supply
Offering products or services that by nature work to solve social issues like environmental remediation, or technology designed to connect people to giving or serving opportunities. It also includes providing your product or service to those who cannot afford them as a standard part of your business model like a buy one give one to someone (who can not afford the product service) model.
Impact through Giving
Giving a portion of revenues to an organization providing resources, training, or solutions to social causes, or donating products or services to nonprofits or organizations working on social issues.
Impact through Employment
Prioritizing hiring a marginalized demographic (women, minorities, homeless, disabled, previously incarcerated, etc.). Setting goals related to hiring and establishing programs to help marginalized people succeed and grow.
Impact through Supply Chain
Executing a formal program for choosing vendors by evaluating diversity, ethics, social equality and carbon footprint.
Impact through Employee Engagement
Establishing an intentional culture that fosters employee engagement in social impact. Examples include matching employee giving, offering paid time off for employee volunteering/service, and actively promoting within your staff how the company advances social impact to motivate individuals to find their own passions and areas of impact.
IMPACT + SUSTAINABLE REVENUE =
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
A traditional nonprofit focuses on impact as a measure of success, typically using donations and grants as revenue.
A traditional business focuses on maximizing revenue by providing products or services as a measure of success.
Social enterprises find a beautiful space in the middle. Utilizing a consistent product or service-driven revenue stream, social enterprises fund social impact.
BECOMING A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
BOTH REVENUE AND IMPACT
Whether you are an existing business, nonprofit, or a new start-up, you have the power to break out of these old-fashioned historical models. Only about revenue? Only about impact? How about BOTH?
Here’s the challenge: utilize your revenue-generating business to help your community. Social concerns are all over the place, so if you haven’t yet found a niche that motivates and challenges you, let us help. Together we’ll find a need, injustice, or opportunity that stirs your passion, and come alongside you as you pursue it.
At Nexus, we exist to help you incorporate impact in your business model. Still not convinced? Social enterprises also enjoy benefits beyond the intrinsic value of doing good in the community. Socially-focused businesses tend to attract, retain, and engage better employees. Customers often resonate with a socially-conscious business, more than simply a revenue-generating enterprise.
DETERMINE A MODEL
Ready to make the leap into social enterprise? You’ll need to determine a model – how you will address a particular need – which doesn’t need to be typical. Here are a few ideas, but be sure to imagine other avenues of change!
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EMPLOY a marginalized demographic (women, minorities, homeless, disabled, previously incarcerated, etc.).
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SUPPLY products or services to those who cannot afford them by using revenue from sales to people who can afford them.
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GIVE a portion of revenues to an organization providing resources, training, or solutions to social causes.
While there are varying interpretations of what is a true social enterprise, typically, the higher the dedication of time, energy, and resources towards impact, the further it moves from an impact-based business to a full blown social enterprise.
Email us if you want to learn more about embedding social impact into your business model.