Publications

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Building and Managing New Initiatives

Small Business Development Strategies
A nonprofit organization can increase jobs and income among community residents in many ways. In communities where the challenges of connecting residents to mainstream employment opportunities are sizeable, small business development can be an important alternative. Commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Small Business Development Strategies: Practices to Promote Success among Low-Income Entrepreneurs explores the proven tools used by non-profit organizations to help entrepreneurs succeed. In this newly published report, BWB Partners Kevin McQueen and John Weiser examine various small business development strategies that address different challenges faced in promoting success among entrepreneurs and their businesses. For organizations involved in the economic development field, this report can be a valuable tool for setting up programs to assist new ventures and their owners.

Making the most of Manpower
Building brand and building community value can happen together. This article, which appeared in Oct 2006 Brand Strategy magazine, provides case examples of how companies can tap core competencies to create benefits for business and community alike.

“Part of the Solution: Leveraging Business and Markets for Low-Income People”
Business can be a powerful tool for helping to improve the income and assets of low-income individuals – if a win-win relationship can be crafted. The Ford Foundation’s report “Part of the Solution: Leveraging Business and Markets for Low-Income People” provides success models and analytic frameworks that help nonprofits and funders understand how to work with business as a force for positive social change. Click here for the executive summary and here for the full report.

CSR Challenges and Strategies

Leveraging Markets to Help the Poor

Win-Win Strategies

Conversations with Disbelievers: Persuading Companies to Increase Corporate Involvement

New Study Released on Business Creation Strategies for Low-Income Communities

Ongoing Conversations with Disbelievers: Persuading Business to Address Social Challenges
Most companies mistakenly dismiss low-income markets as commercial wastelands. Yet many top corporations — including IBM, Ford, Hewlett Packard, and Texas Instruments - have discovered that investing in and partnering with underserved communities can yield significant profits. Based on rigorous research spanning seven years and 50 cases, Untapped shows how serving consumers and suppliers at the bottom of the pyramid can be the key to addressing corporations’ pressing needs: increased sales, a qualified workforce, marketable innovations, reduced costs, and increased quality. But as corporations benefit, so too do communities, through better products, prices, and services, more meaningful job opportunities, and an increased market for their own goods and services. The authors’ blend of proven strategies, practical tools, case studies, and cogent insight shows managers how to maximize profits while helping community residents increase income and assets, creating a relationship of mutual gain.

You can find out more about the book at:
http://www.untappedbook.com/

Strategic and Business Planning

The Theory of Change: A Planning and Team Building Tool

Vision Qualla: Report to Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
BWB worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to create jobs and income in ways that draw on, and are supportive of, traditional culture and values. This final report from the project provides a complete description of the process and action plans developed.

Thinking about a Revenue Generating Venture as a Sustainability Strategy for your Nonprofit Organization

The Consultant and Strategic Planning: When Inclusion Matters

Off the Shelf: How to Ensure That Your Strategic Plan Becomes a Valued Tool

"Having It All” BWB’s recent report for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
This report provides public radio stations across the US with a clear analysis of how leading stations were combining good financial health with superior audience service. The report makes recommendations that can help to radio stations to meet their missions and increase their financial sustainability at the same time.

Social Enterprise Bibliography

Social Enterprise Planning: Sustainable Revenue for Nonprofits
A Pocket Guide to Business Planning

How to Create Jobs, Save the Planet and Make Money for your Nonprofit: A Lesson in Developing a Business Plan