Assigning a point person

If you find that you’re too busy to handle the

duties associated with being the media “go-to”

or point person, you need to assign one or more

spokespeople to interact with the media in your

place. Everyone else should funnel media inqui-

ries to those people. And those spokespeople

should know and keep up-to-date on the cen-

tral media and reporters covering your efforts.

It should also go almost without saying that

spokespeople should also keep in very close

contact with you, the social entrepreneur, and

report to you often.

Be very picky about who should be spokes-

people for your efforts. They should know their

stuff about your work and the issues involved

inside and out. They should also be person-

able, articulate, and unflappable under media

fire. And try not to have more than two spokes-

people. Having too many folks speaking for you

risks not only diluting or convoluting your mes-

sage but also confusing the people you want to

reach with your message — your target audi-

ence. There should be a limited number of faces

or voices officially associated with what you do.

Spokespeople serve as vital resources for the

media — and target audiences — so they must

be deeply involved, extremely knowledgeable,

and comfortable appearing in front of cameras

and microphones. Make sure, though, that your

spokesperson’s reputation is stellar; a good

deal of your organization’s reputation can be

wrapped up in the spokesperson’s.Setting limits

One of the biggest problems in organizing a social enterprise is that, as the

charismatic social entrepreneur inspires others to rally around and help

reach the organization’s goals, efforts to manage and sustain these grass-

roots initiatives tend to become increasingly bureaucratized. One conse-

quence of this tendency is that the heart and soul of social change — the

founding nucleus of enthusiasts — may become disenchanted. When those

people start to lose their spark, the humanity and vision behind the initia-

tives for change can start to erode. And so can your chances for success.

Enterprises destined to grow into large organizations usually can’t avoid this

bloat, which is sometimes called bureaucratic creep. Their very size demands

an increasing number of specialized units and subunits. Typical ones include

the following:

 ✓ A financial department staffed by various tax, bookkeeping, and account-

ing specialists

 ✓ A hiring department charged with recruiting and retaining volunteers

 ✓ A human resources department to look after the needs of the swelling

gang of paid workers

Unfortunately, this transformation tends to push the original, free-spirited

heart and soul of the enterprise into the organization’s least bureaucratized

corners, if not out the door altogether. Even you, the founding charismatic

entrepreneur, may find that you’re increasingly shackled by these inescap-

able transformations.

Heavily bureaucratized enterprises may well be over-bureaucratized, but

they may also still be mostly filled with volunteers and paid staff who are

used to functioning under the new conditions. The founding cluster of free

spirits may have adapted, found their own island of relative freedom, or left

the organized side of the cause — the social enterprise itself — to work

independently.

Nevertheless, whatever the stage of growth, you want to try to prune excess

bureaucratic limbs. Over-bureaucratization adds needless costs while grind-

ing down the people who have to try to get things done within it.What people mean when they talk

about legal and charitable status

The legal status of a nonprofit social enterprise

refers to whether it is formally incorporated

within a state, province, nation, or other gov-

ernmental jurisdiction. In the case of nonprof-

its, legal status may also refer to whether the

enterprise is formally tax-exempt. Paid-staff

nonprofits are nearly always incorporated and

tax-exempt, whereas many grass-roots associ-

ations are not incorporated and, therefore, not

officially tax-exempt. Small grassroots orga-

nizations are usually “informally tax-exempt,”

however — they generate little money and

don’t always report to the tax authorities any

money they do generate.

If your social enterprise is incorporated, it may

apply to government for formal exemption from

taxation and thereby be recognized as a chari-

table group, or charity. A charity is formally

organized, provides one or more public benefits

(as opposed to member benefits), and receives

a significant amount of its revenue from dona-

tions. Charities are also legally empowered to

issue official statements to donors verifying the

amount they gave to them. This is a substantial

incentive for many potential donors, because

they can claim a tax deduction against the

amount they’ve given.