Effective Fundraising

9Micro Social Enterprise Issues

THIS BOOK WAS written primarily to help new trustees assist the development activities of organizations that mostly are over $1 million in revenues, have a defined governance structure, and have a history of several years or more. Some of these organizations, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Massachusetts General Hospital, or the Smithsonian Institute, are massive and have a global reputation. Others, of course, are much smaller but play vital roles in their region and community. Below these organizations in size, however, are hundreds of thousands of others, which I will call micro social enterprises. With revenues well below $1 million and often no permanent paid staff, they nonetheless play a vital role in their communities. Their organization, leadership, and fundraising structures and processes, however, are very different in form and formality from those of their larger brethren. The earlier ideas in this book are relevant in spirit to those organizations but not necessarily in form. This chapter focuses on their special characteristics and needs.

Who are these organizations? Three examples described later show their wide diversity in structures and needs. Consider first the Boston Terrier Rescue League of Florida. Its mission is “saving Boston Terriers who are lost, abandoned or surrendered in Florida and the southeast United States, regardless of age, health, or adoptability.” Their goal is to nourish each Boston terrier back to ...