![]() | How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition by David Bornstein
Buy new: $8.74 / Used from: $7.00 A fantastic view into how Ashoka thinks about developing social enterprise around the world. It's a very high level view, to change how it's done by supporting talented people who are pushing the edges.
Each chapter goes into depth on one story, and so I got a fairly good idea of where the person came from, what challenges they faced, how they dealt with them, and so on.
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![]() | Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur's Odyssey to Educate the World's Children by John Wood
Buy new: $12.23 / Used from: $0.32 A frank and colorful look at how John Wood built up his venture. I especially like he gives details of what went well, what didn't, who was helpful, who wasn't. Frank and refreshing. An entertaining read.
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![]() | The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back by Bill Shore
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $0.71 Great narratives and lots of heart. Also a thread throughout about the challenges of scale and sustainability. A very nuanced book on strategy and the big big challenges in the not-for-profit world, at the end of the day.
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![]() | Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) by Leslie Crutchfield
Buy new: $18.87 / Used from: $14.00 A very strategic, research driven approach to identifying core factors that make not-for-profits succeed. One of the authors is ex-McKinsey; perhaps this explains all of the research behind it.
You could call it "Good to Great" for the not-for-profit world, and in fact Jim Collins was an adviser to the authors.
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![]() | The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by John Elkington
Buy new: $21.56 / Used from: $15.95 An interesting walk through a number of different social enterprises and not-for-profit. Not nearly as deep or comprehensive as "How to Change the World" but still an interesting read.
They cover a lot of ground, and that can get one's thinking going.
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![]() | Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Second Edition by Michael Allison
Buy new: $25.17 / Used from: $19.95 I found this to be a very accessible and practical book for strategic planning. It walked me through a process which I could understand, and used language, layout and examples that I could relate to.
There is a very nice example nonprofit that is weaved through every chapter of the book, so that I could see the ideas in action.
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![]() | The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations by James T. Horan Jr.
Buy new: $23.07 / Used from: $18.99 There is a beautiful simplicity about this book. I think's a great way to bridge from the high level strategy to implementation, and to capture the essence of what's important along the way. A great way to communicate to all involved what the org is up to.
One thing to be aware of is that this book assumes that you already understand your market positioning.
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![]() | Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by Richard P. Chait
Buy new: $39.03 / Used from: $27.99 This book is particularly interesting if you find yourself on a highly tactical board, wondering "What impact am I actually having?" The authors very nicely lay out and distinguish three types of activities, which I might call "tactical," "governance," and "big picture strategy." For the third one there is more to it; read the book for more.
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