2010-2011 NESsT Social Enterprise

Competition in Croatia

Application is now closed!

Strenghtening social enterprise development capacity for a more sustainable Croatian civil society

NESsT is pleased to announce the “2010-2011 NESsT Social Enterprise Competition” with the aim of supporting the development of social enterprises in Croatia. To this end, we are inviting the participation of all Croatian civil society organizations (CSOs) that are interested in assessing the viability of launching or expanding social enterprise activities. CSOs that already have a business plan or a functioning social enterprise are also encouraged to apply.

The 2010-2011 NESsT Social Enterprise Competition fits into the national, regional and global strategy of NESsT to build capacity for developing social enterprises owned and operated by CSOs in emerging markets.

The competition in Croatia specifically aims to provide training to CSOs in developing feasibility studies and business plans for their social enterprise ideas. Following the development of business plans, NESsT will reward the most viable social enterprise business concepts that have been completed by those organizations that have shown themselves most capable of implementing them. Those awarded at the end of the competition will receive financial support for the implementation of their business plans as well as an additional year of tailored capacity-building support. 

The ultimate impact of the program will be more organizations that are able to assess, plan for, and implement social enterprises, as well as an overall increased capacity to generate long-term social impact, benefitting Croatian civil society.

The call for proposals is open from May 28th, 2010 through July 13th, 2010.

Terms of Reference for the 2010-2011 NESsT Social Enterprise Competition:

Definitions

Applicants - Who should apply?

Pre-requisites and selection criteria

The competition process 

Benefits of the program

Contact details

Definitions

Social Enterprise

For the purpose of the competition, NESsT defines social enterprise as those self-financing activities that

• require professional evaluation and business planning, AND
• are designed to market a product or service in a systematic, responsible and professional manner, AND
• are geared towards directly enhancing the CSO’s social impact and generating sustainable income that contributes to furthering the CSO’s core mission.

A few general examples of social enterprises might be: provision of specialized services in a fee-based manner to beneficiaries; consulting services based on the specific know-how or methodology of the organization; sale of products created by the beneficiaries of the organization; rental or use of existing infrastructure or equipment,

Civil society organization

For the purpose of the competition NESsT uses the term “civil society organization” (CSO) to refer to a wide range of formally registered nonprofit, non-state organizations or community-based associations and groups that fall outside the realm of the government and business sectors, for example associations, foundations and funds.

Applicants - Who should apply?

We invite all CSOs registered in Croatia that are thinking about or are currently implementing self-financing activities to enhance their long-term sustainability and augment their mission impact. CSOs with an already existing social enterprise business plan or an operating social enterprise are also encouraged to apply. We expect applicants to show strong commitment to the development of their social enterprises and invest approximately 30 days in the social enterprise development process over the course of 12 months.

Pre-requisites and selection criteria

The following are the selection prerequisites for organizations to be considered for the competition:

1. Be legally incorporated as a non-profit organization in Croatia for a period of at least two years at the time of application.
2. Work in one or more of the following fields: community/economic development, environment, education, health, culture, human rights, disabilities, citizenship/volunteerism, poverty reduction, children/youth.
3. Have an annual budget that does not exceed US$1,000,000 a year.
4. Be financially stable, with at least one year of operational funding in place.
5. Have at least one full-time paid person on staff, as well as active volunteers with sustained commitment to the CSO.
6. The following types of organizations will not be considered: proselytizing religious organizations, solely grant-making foundations, non-autonomous branches of international organizations or organizations tied to political parties or candidates.

All CSOs that meet the abovementioned pre-requisites will be considered alongside the following selection criteria to enter the competition. A maximum of 20 CSOs will be invited to participate in the competition, based on these considerations:

• Focus on addressing issues at their roots and working towards systemic social change through long-term sustainable processes,
• Potential to demonstrate high social impact and/or generate significant untied revenues,
• Commitment to pursuing a well-planned social enterprise,
• Potential for NESsT to add significant value,
• Commitment to NESsT methodology and an open cooperation.

The competition process 

CSOs selected to enter the competition based on the above, will, with the assistance of the NESsT team, work their way through a process in which they will advance in phases, increasing their capacity to develop and undertake social enterprises. The competition process aims to build capacity to develop the social enterprises as thoroughly as possible and may extend up to 12 months.

The main stages of the NVF process are:

Stage 1: Organizational Readiness for the social enterprise activity and a pre-feasibility study of one or two initial ideas

Stage 2: Feasibility study of one promising social enterprise idea (or of the expansion of an already existing social enterprise)

Stage 3: Elaboration of a Business Plan for the implementation/expansion of the social enterprise

In each stage CSOs will be invited to participate in capacity-building workshops. The participation in these trainings is a basic requirement of proceeding in the competition.

Following each workshop, NESsT will work individually with each CSO to provide further one-on-one support to develop their documents. However, it is important to keep in mind that NESsT will not write the abovementioned studies, plans and supplementary materials for any participant.  By doing this on their own, participating organizations ultimately gain the skills and capacity needed to understand and manage their business. 

NESsT will review and evaluate the requisite materials and quality of cooperation in each step, providing detailed feedback. CSOs that receive a positive evaluation, based on the viability of their social enterprise models and the continued fulfillment of the selection criteria can proceed to the following stage.

Main milestones of the process (with approximate dates)

Benefits of the program

Participating CSOs will receive all trainings, one-on-one support and evaluations free of charge, gaining capacity-building in developing social enterprise concepts and business plans and technical assistance to implement them, for a value equivalent to up to USD 7,750.

At the end of the competition, based on the quality of the business plans developed, a maximum of 3 financial awards will be given to recognize the best social enterprise concept. Award recipients will receive a financial investment for the implementation of their social enterprise, for up to USD 10,000, known as a venture grant. The top business plan submission may also qualify for further tailored business implementation support from NESsT.

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