The term social entrepreneurship has a range of meanings.  Contributing to this diversity is the different origins for establishing a social enterprise and the different approaches for undertaking social entrepreneurship.  Social enterprises can be commenced by an individual founder or co-founders, established by an existing not for profit organisation, or created collectively by communities.  The different approaches to social entrepreneurship include: the social innovation and social enterprise schools, and participatory governance, community building, and complexity approaches.  

Community Capacity Builders Program embraces the diversity of social entrepreneurship by recognising the different origins of social enterprises and the benefits of the different social entrepreneurship approaches.   
 
During Community Capacity Builders Program for Social Entrepreneurs, participants:

• research and map the solution ecosystem for the problem or purpose that they are addressing
• develop a theory of change, logic model, business model and pitch deck for the initiative that they develop
• explore the support that is available for social enterprises in their community
• determine the most appropriate social enterprise structure to institutionalise their initiative, and
• develop for their initiative, a performance measurement plan for measuring their results, and a scaling strategy for increasing their results.

 
The Program consists of four units:

• Understanding Social Entrepreneurship
• Mapping Solution Ecosystems
• Developing Initiatives, and
• Developing Social Enterprises

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Unit 1

Understanding Social Entrepreneurship

In Unit 1 participants explore five different approaches to social entrepreneurship.

These five approaches are: the social innovation, social enterprise, participatory governance, community building and complexity approaches.  Each of these approaches have a different history and include different social entrepreneurship concepts, tools and techniques.  During future units of the program, participants use this pallet of concepts, tools and techniques from the five approaches to map their solution ecosystem, develop a theory of change and business model, and choose between different forms of social enterprise to institutionalise their innovation.  

Unit 2

Mapping Solution Ecosystems

In Unit 2 participants research and map the solution ecosystem for the problem or purpose that they are addressing. 

​It is highlighted during Unit 2 that in order for participants to create initiatives that can influence systems change, their initiative needs to be a part of a solution ecosystem that is addressing their problem's or purpose's overarching complex problem.  A solution ecosystem for a given complex problem and geographical community, consists of all the initiatives in the community that are addressing any of the interdependent causal factors that underpin the complex problem and all of the organisations that are partnering on those initiatives.

Unit 3

Developing Initiatives

In Unit 3 participants develop a theory of change, logic model, business model and pitch deck for their initiative.

Theories of change contain the underlying assumptions about how and why an initiative will achieve its desired results.  Logic models show the cause-and-effect relationships between the activities of an initiative and its desired results.  Business models describe how an initiative will create social and economic value.  Pitch decks are presentations that are used to describe an initiative's theory of change, logic model, and business model to potential partners, funders and investors.

Unit 4

Developing Social Enterprises

In Unit 4 participants identify local support for social enterprises and options for: forming a social enterprise, measuring results and scaling results.  

During Unit 4 participants explore the support that is available for social enterprises through their local social enterprise ecosystem.  They determine the most appropriate social enterprise structure to institutionalise their initiative.  Participants develop for their initiative: a performance measurement plan for measuring their results, and a scaling strategy for increasing their results.