Social Entrepreneurship

UCAN defines Social Entrepreneurship as follows: – ANY business activity UNDERTAKEN by A non-profit organization TO generate REVENUE IN SUPPORT OF ITS CHARITABLE  mission or stated goals

One of UCAN’s primary areas of activity involves enhancing the financial viability of Civil Society Organizations. The project focuses on building partnerships across sectors and in developing new attitudes towards and models for local resource mobilization.  Rather than wait until a continued dependence on international funding precipitates a crisis for Ukrainian CSOs as traditional donors such as USAID begin reducing their financial commitment, UCAN is approaching this issue head on and working to ensure that effective local mechanisms to support the continued development of a vibrant civil society are in place sooner rather than later. UCAN has piloted several initiatives in this area—in stimulating corporate giving, in supporting new models for local philanthropy such as community foundations, and in developing social entrepreneurship.

Since 2004, UCAN awarded 22 Social Entrepreneurship grants totalling almost $180,000 under its Innovation Fund Grant Program.  The program provides training and grant support to organizations that propose to utilize this innovative approach to revenue generation in order to enhance their ability to achieve a social impact that improves the quality of life of a target group

The following organizations can practice Social Entrepreneurship:

• Non-profit organizations – non-business associations (civic and charity organizations), non-business entities;
• Commercial enterprises founded by NGOs
• NGOs in cooperation with businesses

Social Enterprises can achieve social impact in the following manner:

• Including the target group in providing services and producing goods while solving problems relating to re-socialization, adaptation, therapy, employment, etc.
• Providing quality goods and services to target group representatives under favorable terms (reduced prices, fares, etc.) while meeting their needs and improving their lives
• Conducting business activity without any sort of target group inclusion while directing funds generated from the profits towards fulfilling the NGO mission
• Applying innovative approaches towards resolving problems that will substantially improve the lives of a broad spectrum of people within society including that of the target group.

In FY2008, UCAN, through the newly founded Foundation for Ukraine, plans to co-fund 3 more social entrepreneurship projects under an improved selection and evaluation system.