The Mission-Driven Venture: Business Solutions to the World's Most Vexing Social Problems - Hardcover

by Marc J. Lane (Author)

Practical guidance to maximize financial results while driving positive social change

The Mission-Driven Venture provides actionable guidance for leveraging the power of the marketplace to solve the world's most vexing social problems. Written by attorney and financial advisor Marc J. Lane, a renowned thought leader and expert on entrepreneurship, social enterprises, impact investing and entrepreneurial finance, this book reaches the full spectrum of interests represented at the intersection of business and social change. Whether a social entrepreneur, impact investor, socially conscious individual, or a nonprofit or foundation leader, any reader committed to social innovation can benefit from this practical roadmap to the rapidly developing arena of social enterprise.

Through real-world accounts of the journeys and successes of mission-driven ventures, Lane effectively illustrates the transformative potential of social enterprise, inspiring the reader to be an agent of change. Among the many tools offered through The Mission-Driven Venture, readers will:

• Find functional guidance to move from idea to reality with a step-by-step guide to designing and implementing a successful mission-driven venture
• Assess the benefits and challenges of the business models and entity choices available to the social entrepreneur
• Examine the entrepreneurial linkages between nonprofits and for-profits
• Recognize governance issues that can arise when mission and profit objectives clash, and discover tools for managing them
• Explore evolving trends and developments in financing social enterprise
• Discover methods and tools for measuring and reporting social impact
• Develop an effective strategy for achieving both financial success and meaningful social impact

Front Jacket

Despite the fact that governments and nonprofit organizations have compassionately invested billions in social services, we still face unrelenting challenges in education, health care, poverty, unemployment, and the environment.

The Mission-Driven Venture offers anyone committed to social innovation a hands-on, actionable guide for leveraging the power of the market-place to solve the world's most difficult social problems. Written by attorney and financial advisor Marc J. Lane--a renowned thought leader and expert on entrepreneurship, social enterprise, impact investing, and entrepreneurial finance--this important guide explores the full spectrum of the varied interests represented at the intersection of business and social change. Together, mission-driven ventures and traditional business concerns can reach and sustain scaled social solutions.

Filled with real-world accounts of the journeys and successes of mission-driven initiatives, The Mission-Driven Venture clearly illustrates the transformative potential of social enterprise. Throughout the book, Lane offers the information and tools needed for becoming an agent of change and shows how to move from idea to reality with a step-by-step guide to designing and implementing a successful mission-driven venture.

Social entrepreneurs embrace mission-driven ventures that emphasize transparency and accountability. They lead by example. They fill a humanitarian vacuum left by government and charity, and they do so sustainably as only the private sector can. For example, social entrepreneurs may organize and operate a low-profit limited liability company that, by law, places mission above profits and facilitates foundation funding of charitable and educational businesses. The Benefit Corporation requires its managers to make decisions not only to enrich its shareholders, but also for the good of society as a whole. Social impact bonds provide long-term funds for promising social interventions, transfer risk to private capital markets, and tap into public coffers only when specific social benefits are achieved. Microfinance and microcredit are helping the poorest of the poor become self-sufficient business owners. And worker-owned co-operatives are converting the disenfranchised into self-reliant entrepreneurs.

Impact investors, social entrepreneurs, socially conscious individuals, nonprofit and foundation leaders, and anyone committed to social innovation will find The Mission-Driven Venture to be a practical roadmap to the rapidly developing arena of social enterprise.

Back Jacket

Despite the fact that governments and nonprofit organizations have compassionately -invested billions in social services, we still face unrelenting challenges in education, health care, poverty, unemployment, and the environment.

The Mission-Driven Venture offers anyone committed to social innovation a hands-on, actionable guide for leveraging the power of the market-place to solve the world's most difficult social problems. Written by attorney and financial advisor Marc J. Lane--a renowned thought leader and expert on entrepreneurship, social enterprise, impact investing, and entrepreneurial finance--this important guide explores the full spectrum of the varied interests represented at the intersection of business and social change. Together, mission-driven ventures and traditional business concerns can reach and sustain scaled social solutions.

Filled with real-world accounts of the journeys and successes of mission-driven initiatives, The Mission-Driven Venture clearly illustrates the transformative potential of social enterprise. Throughout the book, Lane offers the information and tools needed for becoming an agent of change and shows how to move from idea to reality with a step-by-step guide to designing and implementing a successful mission-driven venture.

Social entrepreneurs embrace mission-driven ventures that emphasize transparency and accountability. They lead by example. They fill a humanitarian vacuum left by government and charity, and they do so sustainably as only the private sector can. For example, social entrepreneurs may organize and operate a low-profit limited liability company that, by law, places mission above profits and facilitates foundation funding of charitable and educational businesses. The Benefit Corporation requires its managers to make decisions not only to enrich its shareholders, but also for the good of society as a whole. Social impact bonds provide long-term funds for promising social interventions, transfer risk to private capital markets, and tap into public coffers only when specific social benefits are achieved. Microfinance and microcredit are helping the poorest of the poor become self-sufficient business owners. And worker-owned co-operatives are converting the disenfranchised into self-reliant entrepreneurs.

Impact investors, social entrepreneurs, socially conscious individuals, nonprofit and foundation leaders, and anyone committed to social innovation will find The Mission-Driven Venture to be a practical roadmap to the rapidly developing arena of social enterprise.

Author Biography

MARC J. LANE, a business and tax attorney and financial advisor, practices law at The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, P.C. (www.MarcJLane.com). He is an expert on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance; Marc is also an influential advocate of best corporate governance practices. Marc is the pioneer behind the Advocacy Investing^(R) approach to socially responsible and mission-related investing (www.AdvocacyInvesting.com). Marc is also an in-demand -keynote speaker for philanthropic, non-profit, impact investing, and corporate audiences.

Join the conversation on Twitter @MarcJLane.