About Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurship exploded with the turn of the 21st century. At its most basic, the term refers to applying the principles of entrepreneurship to advancing a social cause, good, or solution — a company or organization that is run with its mission placed above profits. That doesn’t mean it is non-profit (though it can be) nor that it doesn’t make much money; it simply means that profits are not the primary goal.

This can include any of the following types of organizational structures (examples in parentheses):

  • A traditional non-profit organization, either 501(c)3 or unincorporated, that operates using entrepreneurial principles (First Book, Pencils of Promise)
  • A for-profit business owned by a non-profit organization (Mozilla Corporation owned by the Mozilla Foundation)
  • A non-profit organization owned by a for-profit company (Panera Cares)
  • A for-profit business with an embedded social mission that is integral to the company; without it, the company model would not be the same or would cease to exist (TOMS Shoes)
  • A traditional for-profit business that puts its social mission above profits (Honest Tea)
  • low-profit limited liability company (L3C), currently a legal entity in 11 states (MOOMilk)
  • benefit corporation, currently a legal entity in 35 states and the District of Columbia (Actuality Media) — this is Social Motion Publishing’s legal structure as a project of The 180 Lab Inc.

Incidentally, “B Corp” is often confused with “benefit corporation” and sometimes erroneously used synonymously. B Corp is not a legal structure, but rather it’s a certification by the nonprofit B Lab that for-profit companies that can earn by meeting rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.