Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Instructor: Peter Frumkin

57,046 already enrolled

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,466 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

7 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,466 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

7 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 4 modules in this course

This course offers an introduction to social impact strategy and social entrepreneurship, including key concepts, an overview of the field, and tools to get started as a changemaker. Students will learn how to innovate and design new ideas and new organizational forms to implement those ideas. Students who take this course will be better prepared to launch social impact

organizations of their own invention. By moving through four stages, Define, Design, Pilot, and Scale, students will turn their passion for changing the world into concrete plans for launching a nonprofit or for-profit venture designed to achieve a social goal. This course will allow students to systematically think through problems; develop and test an innovative solution; assess risk, competition, and performance; and spread impact in a way that is financially sustainable. Students who complete the course become eligible to apply for an in-person educational experience, called the Global Social Impact House. GSIH is a seven-day residential program that provides fellows with the tools, community and training they need to advance their ventures. Workshops are customized to the needs of fellows and explore advanced concepts in business models, design thinking and leadership. The program is also designed to help fellows build meaningful, global connections while living together in an inspirational host location. For more information on the Global Social Impact House, please visit: https://csis.upenn.edu/residential-program/gsih/

Learn about the key qualities of social innovation, social enterprise, and social entrepreneurs. How do social entrepreneurs approach problem solving? How might we identify social initiatives that are truly innovative in their approach to delivering on their mission, sustaining their venture, or scaling their impact? This module introduces the topic and offers examples of initiatives you might study as cases organizations throughout the course.

What's included

7 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

7 videos Total 33 minutes

0.1. What to Expect in this Course 2 minutes
1.1 Introduction to Social Innovation 6 minutes
1.2 Traditional approaches to public problem solving 5 minutes
1.3 A social entrepreneur's approach to problem solving 6 minutes
1.4 Introduction to the social enterprise and the social enterprise spectrum 6 minutes
1.5 The Importance of the business model 1 minute
1.6 Traits of social enterprise across the spectrum 6 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Recommended Readings for Week 1. Introduction 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 40 minutes

Week 1 Quiz: Introduction to Social Innovation, Enterprise, and Entrepreneurship 40 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Introductions 10 minutes
Admirable social innovators and entrepreneurs 10 minutes

Learn the inputs and basic blueprints of a well-articulated vision. Develop an understanding of the design process, and learn to use an empathy map and a mind map for client-oriented innovation. Learn to build a logic model, which will help you articulate your innovation's theory of change from resources (inputs) to activities to impact. We encourage students to apply these tools immediately, to an active or idea-stage social initiative, that you are working directly on or that you admire.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

11 videos Total 58 minutes

2.1 How Do We Find Innovations? Introduction to the Design Process 7 minutes
2.2 Why is Design Thinking Important for Social Innovation? 4 minutes
2.3 How to Design Part 1: Spark Useful Insights by Listening with Empathy 5 minutes
2.4 How to Design Part 2: Identify the Most Powerful Insights and Potential Solutions by Building a Mind Map 6 minutes
2.5 How to Design Part 3: Prototyping 3 minutes
2.6 Embracing Creativity and Innovation 4 minutes
2.7 Articulating your Roadmap to Impact: The Logic Model 3 minutes
2.8 The Logic Model: Critical Elements 6 minutes
2.9 The Logic Model: How to Use It 7 minutes
2.10 Three Examples of Logic Models 10 minutes
2.11 Tips for Building a Strong Logic Model 2 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Recommended Readings for Week 2: Define and Design 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Week 2 Quiz: Finding Innovations and the Road to Impact 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Mind Mapping for Powerful Insights and Potential Solutions 10 minutes
Logic Models for Building a Roadmap to Impact 10 minutes

We must test our ideas in the real world, early and often, to determine if they can truly deliver on either their social or financial mission. Learn to build and use the balanced scorecard, a key tool to assess the real-world performance of a social innovation. The scorecard will allow you to measure and articulate both the initiative's current reach and health, as well as the work that is left to be done. An innovation achieves the intended social impact in a way that is financially supportable may be a candidate for scale. Learn to assess whether and how to approach scale for your social innovation.

What's included

10 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

10 videos Total 47 minutes

3.1 Two Approaches to Measuring Performance: Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Ratings 6 minutes
3.2 A Third Approach to Measuring Performance: The Balanced Scorecard 5 minutes
3.3 Examples of Balanced Scorecards 7 minutes
3.4 How to Develop a Balanced Scorecard - Overview 2 minutes
3.5 How to Develop a Balanced Scorecard - Detail 7 minutes
3.6 What is Scale? 4 minutes
3.7 The Importance of Scale in the Social Sector 2 minutes
3.8 Five Approaches to Scale - Overview 3 minutes
3.9 Five Approaches to Scale - Details and Implications 5 minutes
3.10 Approaching Scale Critically 5 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Recommended Readings for Week 3. Pilot and Scale 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Week 3 Quiz: Performance Measurement and Scale 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Performance Measurement 10 minutes
Paths to Scale 10 minutes

This course concludes with an exploration of the organizational forms and modes of delivering impact across the business model spectrum.

What's included

13 videos1 reading1 assignment2 discussion prompts

13 videos Total 59 minutes

4.1 Why you Need a Business Model 8 minutes
4.2 Features of the Business Model 3 minutes
4.3 Business Models along the Business Model Spectrum 4 minutes
4.4 Choosing a Model - Introduction 5 minutes
4.5 Choosing a Model - How to Choose 5 minutes
4.6 Drilling Down on Assessment 2: Competitive Positioning 7 minutes
4.7 Competitive Positioning: Market Characteristics and Differentiation 5 minutes
4.8 An Example of Competitive Positioning: Blue Avocado 6 minutes
4.9 An Example of Competitive Positioning: Jolkona 4 minutes
4.10 Key Criteria of Competitive Positioning Assessment 3 minutes
4.11 Choosing a Model - Pathways Lead to Many Organizational Forms that Can Result 6 minutes
4.12 Balancing Mission and Profit 2 minutes
4.14 The bottom line 1 minute

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Recommended Readings for Week 4. Sector Selection and Business Models 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Week 4 Quiz: Sector Selection and Business Models 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts Total 20 minutes

Sector Selection and Competitive Positioning 10 minutes
What's Next and Staying in Touch 10 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings

(374 ratings)

Peter Frumkin

University of Pennsylvania

3 Courses 83,657 learners

Offered by

University of Pennsylvania

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Reviewed on Nov 11, 2019

Excellent course for anyone planning to start a nonprofit or wanting to think more strategically about an existing nonprofit. Lessons are well-organized, concise, and informative.

Reviewed on Nov 25, 2023

This course has helped better my understanding of social entrepreneurship as well as help me figure out my next steps towards furthering my pursuits in the social entrepreneurship world.

Reviewed on Aug 30, 2020

Great course, questionable scoring model on quizzes. Can get 12 out of 13 questions correct yet still score a 54%. Too much emphasis on one question rather than broad understanding of concepts.

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Frequently asked questions

This is the only Coursera class that invites students who complete the course to apply for an in-person educational experience, called the Global Social Impact House: http://socialimpactstrategy.org/residential/gsih.

The course is available on the following dates:

Oct 3 - Nov 7

Oct 31 - Dec 5

Nov 28 - Jan 2

Dec 26 - Jan 30

Jan 23 - Feb 27

Feb 20 - Mar 27

No, you do not have to pay for the certificate. You simply have to complete the course and apply for consideration. For more information on the Global Social Impact House, please visit: socialimpactstrategy.org/residential/gsih

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.