Social enterprises are founded to solve a range of social needs and often vary in their model. These are three common approaches along with some best-in-class examples of each model.
1) THE INNOVATION MODEL
Solar Sister is an example of a company that directly addresses a social need through innovative products. The company brings clean energy technology to even the most remote communities in rural Africa through a deliberately women-centered direct sales network. Other Social Enterprises that provide innovative products and services to solve a social issue: BioLite, Kiva, Drink Soma, FairPhone
2) THE EMPLOYMENT MODEL
Faire Collection is an example of a social enterprise that serves the common good by employing disadvantaged people at a fair wage. The company hires artisans in the developing world to create jewelry that is sold on international markets, providing dignified
wages and holistic social programs that provide a path out of poverty to their artisans. Other Social Enterprises that employ disadvantaged people to break the cycle of poverty: Raven + Lily, Ten Thousand Villages, The Giving Keys, Krochet Kids, Divine Chocolate
3) THE GIVE BACK MODEL
Better World Books Roma Boots is an example of a third type of a social enterprise that serves the common good by giving back for every purchase made. For every pair of Roma Boots sold, a brand-
new pair stuffed with educational supplies is donated to a child in need. This model gives consumers an inspiring and tangible measurement of their impact and as Roma likes to say, “Gives Poverty The Boot.” Other Social Enterprises that give back for every product purchased: Sackcloth And Ashes, TOMS, Skyline Socks, Project 7, Better World Books.11
https://romaboots.com/ https://www.betterworldbooks.com/
On the other hand, the project that meets the employment and innovation both The project that meets the employment and innovation criteria.
4) PEACE PSYCHOTHERAPY
Peace Psychotherapy and Software project is a mobile application and web site that provides free usage rights to refugees, and enables people with psychological problems to switch to online therapy with video calls by psychologists who are experts in their fields, with messages in any language,
whenever and wherever they want, without revealing their identity.
Peace Psychotherapy and software company`s founder Jin Dawod, due to the war in Syria, came with her family to Turkey.
She wanted to create a solution to the biggest problem that faced her. her family and the refugees around her, and draw a border to this problem.
Peace Project, which has won awards in many programs and competitions, employs refugee psychologists, and the therapy sessions of this platform started with Arabic, Turkish and English languages and aims to continue with different languages in the future. Peace is also a graduate of the SIRSE project.
5) KNİTTİNG FOR HOPE
Knitting For Hope is a Social Entrepreneurship project that will raise awareness with its women-only team, creating an economic employment area for Turkish and refugee women and providing positive interaction in the process of adaptation to coexistence.
With this idea, Turkish and refugee women had the opportunity to get to know each other more closely during the education process with the positive feedback received from refugee women, who had previously come together with various projects and presented the project, and the production started.
Since the Knitting for hope project is a hope for women, it adopts the motto “Women Knitting Their Future with Hope” as a principle.
For every product purchased, an amigurumi toy is given to a refugee child.
The work continues, hoping and basically desiring the pleasure of touching a human life. some sweet toys made during the project:
A few representative examples include:
Grameen Bank, which makes small loans to the poor for small business development and other uses. Since its inception in the 1970s, Grameen has provided $10 billion in loans to more than 10 million people, and has proven the need and viability for financial services to the poor. Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 as a reflection of its efforts and success.
Greyston provides the homeless employment in a bakery that makes brownies for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. As Greyston says, “we don’t hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people.”
D.Light designs affordable solar-powered devices that provide an option to people that lack access to reliable energy sources. In its eight-year history, D.Light has sold more than 10 million solar lamps, improving the lives of 50 million people.
Dispensary of Hope aggregates prescription medications that are nearing their expiration date and redistributes these drugs to free clinics in low-income communities. Clinics pay Dispensary of Hope a monthly subscription fee that covers basic expenses, and drug manufacturers save money by avoiding costs associated with destroying expired products.
TerraCycle upcycled packaging and other non-recyclable consumer waste, keeping it out of landfills and turning it into new products. Today, Terracycle has established a recycling network of more than 31 million consumers and 100 major corporate brand partnerships, resulting in more than 3 billion units of garbage averted from landfills and transformed into new, 100% recycled products.
Benetech develops and uses technology to create positive social change. One of Benetech’s signature programs is Bookshare, the largest literacy resource for people with disabilities. Before Bookshare, only 5% of printed materials were accessible to people with disabilities. Today, Bookshare’s more than 330,000 subscribers have access to more than 300,000 titles in a variety of accessible formats.
Warby Parker partners with VisionSpring to enable access to affordable prescription glasses to people in developing countries who are otherwise functionally blind. They do this by selling fashionable eyewear to customers in developed markets, and making a contribution for each pair sold. So far, this partnership has distributed nearly 2.5 million pairs of glasses to those in need.
