South Africa Workshop for Social Entrepreneurship - 2008/Reflections/National Collaborative Project on Student Social Entrepreneurship

Bob Hawkins

Introduction

The World Bank Institute has developed a collaborative framework containing a common set of objectives within which social entrepreneurial projects can be facilitated. The set of objectives will allow for peer reviews of projects, electronic capturing of data regarding communities and projects and allows for a means of identifying the most promising ideas with a view to potentially funding these.

The framework will be implemented in four phases: Phase I will be the inception phase, followed by Phase II (Project Proposal) Phase III (Prototype) and finally Phase IV (Final Business Plan Submission)

Phase I: Inception

PHASE I Week 1-3	ACTIVITY 1 Student preparation	OUTPUT 1
Undertake SSE introductory- community engagement, communication, ethics, culture, civic studies, human interaction skills Use SSE portal to identify fellow students Establish teams- name, biodata, university, community of interest, project type interest Make contact with community, establish trust Identify key community partner		Initial community assessment- scorecard Baseline data household composition Primary businesses Income Access to resources Key priorities Challenges Google Map of Community
Key assessment indicators: Self evaluation/introspection - blogs Community and peer evaluation - rating system		Output: Evaluation of community scorecard according to predefined criteria

During this phase students will assess:

• Their understanding of the target community and who to approach when assessing the need of the community

Students will be expected to post a short memo on their blog outlining the challenges faced and which organisations they envisage can assist them on their chosen project as well as prioritise the identified needs of the community.

Phase II: Project Proposal

PHASE II Week 4-6	ACTIVITY 2 Project Planning	OUTPUT 2
Continuation of SSE course - project planning, financial planning, social and rural development Identification of organization's needs Development of project proposal Development of initial success indicators for the project Identification of a mentor either a social entrepreneur, businessman or at a tertiary institute		Project proposal or concept note Problem statement Proposed solution/intervention Level of community uptake Methodology Champions in communities Resource planning Action plan/Timeline
Key assessment indicators: Self evaluation- introspection Peer evaluation of project proposal or concept note		Output: Evaluation of student project proposal by a team of peers according to predefined common/general criteria

During this Phase students begin to identify the challenges and problems within their chosen community. They would be expected to present a concept note detailing the stated problems, methodology, resource utilisation and proposed action plans to be implemented over the duration of the project. It is probable that at this point that peer reviews take place, inviting comment and input.

Phase III: Prototype and Marketing

PHASE III Week 7-9	ACTIVITY 3 Marketing the idea	OUTPUT 3
Continuation of SSE course - marketing studies, communication Implement prototype of project. Create a marketing video /presentation of the project concept, community current status, your team and resources, and uptake in community. Present your video to your community champion and focus group Post your video or presentation on the SSE portal		Marketing video Problem statement Community profile Proposed solution/intervention Implementation success/challenges Resources Action plan/Timeline
Key assessment indicators: Self evaluation- introspection Evaluation of video clip or presentation		Output: Evaluation of video/presentation by a team of peers according to predefined criteria

Phase IV: Final Business Plan

PHASE IV Week 10-12	ACTIVITY 4 Final business plan	OUTPUT 4
Continuation of SSE course - fundraising, finance and operations, strategic management, SWOT analysis, entrepreneurship and sustainable development Preparation of final business plan Identification of private CSI or donor funder for submission of business plan Implementation strategy and sustainability assessment		Final business plan Concept note revision SWOT analysis Marketing strategy Implementation strategy Project sustainability
Key assessment indicators: Self evaluation- blog of experiences doing the project, final perceptions vs initial impressions and lessons learned Evaluation of final business plan		Output: Peer evaluation of final business plan according to predefined criteria

Funding and Follow-up:

• The student teams with the highest points in each cohort would have their ideas reviewed by a panel of private, NGO and public representatives.
• The best 20 ideas would receive R30,000 to develop the idea further or for their partner institution to develop the idea.