WDI supports NGOs seeking sustainability and increased social impact through the application of appropriate business strategies. We draw on our network of social enterprise academics, students, NGO leaders and business experts to: facilitate intellectual capital creation and documentation; encourage learning and information sharing; and apply best practice through direct technical assistance.
Facilitate the Creation and Documentation of Intellectual Capital
· Engage and grow our Central & Eastern Europe & Eurasia (CEE) and Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) NGO Alliances —coalitions of innovative civil society organizations adopting commercial approaches to become more sustainable.
· Document Alliance member social enterprise strategies and outcomes.
· Generate intellectual capital by engaging and supporting our network of research and policy fellows — a group of thought leaders and social entrepreneurs.
· Publish working papers and policy briefs outlining social enterprise concepts, in particular innovative business strategies that NGOs are adopting.
· Document and understand the experiences of NGOs that have adopted social enterprises through our case study series.
Disseminate Findings
· Facilitate information sharing within our NGO Alliances through our electronic newsletter NGO Success Quarterly, and our online discussion forums.
· Lead annual NGO conferences in Central Europe and Latin America to present and discuss innovative sustainability strategies that NGOs are adopting.
· Host a monthly social enterprise speaker series at WDI. This is a forum for leading thinkers and practitioners to share their insights on social enterprise as a global trend.
· Share insights with a broad audience by posting the lectures on the WDI social enterprise website.
· Promote information sharing within the field through our Web-based resource pages, a comprehensive and constantly updated database of research in the social enterprise field.
Apply Best Practice
· Provide NGO constituents technical assistance through business training at our regional NGO conferences.
· Award Teeter scholarships to NGO leaders to attend executive education programs in business management free of charge.
· Facilitate and fund graduate student internship placements with innovative NGOs.
· Coordinate teams of business students to provide consulting services to NGOs.