Resource library
This library offers a curated collection of valuable tools, guides, and resources that exist in the social enterprise sector. Explore guides, articles and many more to support your journey, whether you’re starting a social enterprise, tackling sector challenges, or navigating the impact economy.
127 results found
This concise resource provides a comprehensive guide on how to conduct market research, aimed at beginners. It explains the importance of market research, outlines different types and methods, and offers a step-by-step process for conducting research.
This article examines Indigenous perspectives on economics and self-determination in Australia, highlighting historical dispossession, economic exclusion, and alternative frameworks for wealth. It explores Indigenous values of communal wealth, economic sovereignty tied to land and spirit, and sustainable solutions.
This guide introduces adaptive leadership, empowering individuals to lead without formal authority. It explores core principles, distinguishing adaptive challenges from technical problems, and practical steps like shifting perspectives, framing challenges, and fostering collaboration. Additional resources and free courses are included.
This resource provides a guide to conducting an Empathy Mapping exercise, a technique used by teams to better understand their customers' needs and experiences. It outlines a step-by-step process for creating empathy maps, including preparation, running the session, and determining actionable insights from the exercise. The guide emphasises the importance of basing the empathy map on real customer data rather than assumptions, and suggests ways to use the resulting insights to improve products or services.
This guide explores participatory research methods designed to align with collaborative project and partnership goals. By involving communities throughout the research process, it promotes equity, trust, and relevance. With actionable frameworks for co-production, it supports researchers and organisations in integrating community knowledge, enhancing outcomes, and fostering long-term collaboration. The guide categorises methods into five domains—engagement, exploration, visual and narrative, mobilisation, and evaluation—while addressing both the strengths and challenges of participatory approaches.
This report introduces the ‘PRISM Framework,’ a guide for responsibly integrating AI into social innovation. Developed with EY and Microsoft, it offers pathways for organisations at various AI adoption stages. The framework aligns AI with impact goals, highlights scalable approaches, and addresses key considerations like ethics, data security, and transparency.
This report by the Schwab Foundation, EY, and Microsoft explores AI’s transformative role in global social innovation. Drawing on insights from 300 social innovators across 50 countries, it highlights AI’s impact on healthcare, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment. The report examines barriers to adoption, opportunities for scalable solutions, and ethical considerations, offering case studies and practical guidance for leveraging AI responsibly to address societal challenges.
This Ethical Fields guide explores community wealth building as a transformative approach to creating equitable, resilient local economies. It highlights principles like local ownership, democratic participation, and wealth redistribution, alongside practical strategies for stakeholders to implement this model in Australia.
This report analyses colonial impacts, truth-telling, and pathways to self-determination, offering insights into decolonisation. While focused on agreement-making between Australian states and First Nations peoples, its strategies for embedding equity and Indigenous sovereignty into governance, policy, and community development have broader relevance.
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Arts Law Info Sheets
PlatformsArts Law offers free/low-cost legal advice and resources to Australian artists, with targeted services for Indigenous artists and resources for social enterprises.
This guide introduces 'impact enterprise' as a broad term for businesses creating positive social impact, focusing on core purpose over specific labels.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is a leading environmental organisation dedicated to protecting Australia’s ecosystems, addressing climate change, and promoting sustainable development. Through advocacy, community engagement, and research, ACF empowers individuals and communities to take action on critical environmental issues, from biodiversity and land conservation to climate change. ACF’s work fosters systemic change, driving the transition to a more sustainable future for Australia and the planet.
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Australian Copyright Council (ACC)
PlatformsThe ACC is a non-profit legal service offering resources on copyright law, with guides and fact sheets for creators, including social enterprises.
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Australian Tax Office (ATO)
PlatformsThe ATO offers essential tax and super info for businesses, including social enterprises, covering worker status, payments, and related obligations.
Certified B Corporations (B Corps) are redefining business success by proving financial performance and social responsibility can coexist. A recent B Lab white paper highlights how B Corps outperformed traditional businesses during 2019–2021, demonstrating resilience, stronger revenue growth, and higher job retention. Their stakeholder governance model, which balances the interests of employees, communities, the environment, and shareholders, is key to their success. This article explores the impact and growing influence of B Corps in modern business.
Dark Matter Labs examines governance in social enterprises as an interconnected system, focusing on balancing power, autonomy, responsibility, accountability, and risk. It challenges traditional hierarchies, linking governance to broader social issues, and introduces the "Beyond the Rules" initiative.
This podcast delves into the evolution of self-care from a radical feminist concept to a commercialised wellness industry, exploring why this shift has failed to curb rising burnout rates. Featuring Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, it challenges superficial wellness trends and offers practical, values-based strategies to redefine self-care for personal and collective empowerment.
The Brand Pyramid and Keller's Brand Equity Model are complementary frameworks for understanding and building strong brands. The Brand Pyramid illustrates five stages customers go through in developing brand loyalty: Presence, Relevance, Performance, Advantage, and Bonding. Keller's model, depicted as a four-level pyramid, focuses on how companies can build brand equity: Brand Identity, Brand Meaning, Brand Response, and Brand Relationships. Both models emphasise the importance of understanding customer perceptions and emotions, and creating positive brand experiences.
This video features Aaron Dignan, author of Brave New Work, sharing insights on transforming outdated work practices.
Bush Heritage Australia is dedicated to conserving Australia’s unique biodiversity by managing ecologically significant land. Through collaboration with Traditional Owners, the organisation restores ecosystems and protects wildlife habitats, contributing to environmental resilience. Bush Heritage’s work focuses on land conservation, Indigenous knowledge integration, and ecological restoration, ensuring the preservation of Australia’s natural heritage for future generations.
This report by Social Enterprise Australia reveals that 12,033 social enterprises contribute $21.3 billion to Australia’s economy, employing over 206,000 people.
A 2-minute introduction to the Business Model Canvas - a tool that helps people design and develop business models for new ventures. This method comes from Strategyzer's best selling management book Business Model Generation and has been used by entrepreneurs and enterprises around the world.
This episode of the "Cleaning Up" podcast features Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, discussing the role of exponential technologies like AI, renewable energy, and battery storage in addressing climate challenges. The conversation explores sustainable energy strategies, investments in cleaner energy, and the balance between technological progress and environmental stewardship.
This resource introduces Challenge-Led Innovation (CLI) as a framework to address complex, large-scale challenges like climate change and inequality. Based on ‘Mission-oriented’ approaches developed by Mariana Mazzucato at UCL IIPP, CLI moves away from traditional innovation models by focusing on collaborative, mission-driven efforts across sectors and communities.
The Climate Council is an independent organisation offering science-based insights into climate change and solutions. It empowers Australians to take informed action on sustainability through research, public education, and community engagement. The organisation provides accessible reports on renewable energy, climate risks, and adaptation strategies, while also supporting citizens with campaigns and resources for climate advocacy, driving awareness and promoting a sustainable future.
This MIT D-Lab article introduces participatory design as a powerful approach to fostering equity and creating sustainable solutions by engaging end-users as co-creators. It explores the benefits of building skills, trust, and ownership while producing durable, context-specific outcomes. By tailoring methods to different challenges, participatory design promotes inclusivity and addresses systemic inequities.
The Common Foundations from Canada provide easy-to-understand general guidance on measuring impact. The report focuses on five essential practices that comprise a minimum standard of impact measurement.
Learn how to create an effective communications strategy with this practical fact sheet for community organisations. Covering key topics such as audience identification, crafting messages, platform selection, and evaluation, it provides a step-by-step guide with exercises and tips to help community foundations implement and refine their communications efforts.
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Connecting Up (Infoxchange)
PlatformsConnecting Up helps Australian and New Zealand nonprofits strengthen their organisations through technology. This free platform, run by Infoxchange, offers discounted IT products, cloud services, hardware, software, and training by partnering with leading tech companies to empower social impact organisations.
This video introduces Doughnut Economics, a framework by economist Kate Raworth that balances human needs with planetary health. Challenging traditional growth-focused economics, it emphasises well-being within ecological limits. The concept offers a compelling perspective on sustainable development and highlights the role of social enterprises in the impact economy, engaging stakeholders effectively.
Cultural safety is pivotal for achieving equity and inclusion in health and human services. This paper focuses on embedding cultural safety into systems for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, addressing systemic racism and power imbalances. While primarily health-focused, its insights are applicable across sectors like social enterprise, community development, and governance.
This resource showcases findings from Australian Research Council studies on Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISE). It emphasises the role of social enterprises in enhancing individual and community wellbeing, particularly in disadvantaged and regional areas. The platform offers tools, insights, and strategies for social enterprises, policymakers, and ecosystem supporters to design workplaces and practices that integrate wellbeing principles, address systemic disadvantage, and foster resilience. Key focus areas include regional community wellbeing, youth health equity, and leveraging organisational design to influence positive social outcomes.
This Diversity Australia resource provides practical guidance on integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into workplaces. It explores key concepts, outlines benefits like improved culture and business outcomes, and offers strategies for fostering inclusivity. Highlighting leadership's role and the need for ongoing training, it frames DEI as both a moral and strategic imperative, emphasising that building an inclusive workplace requires sustained commitment.
This article provides a concise overview of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, promoting prosperity while safeguarding the planet. These goals emphasise poverty eradication, economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection to address global challenges effectively.
Earth4All’s two-year research investigates pathways to achieve global wellbeing within planetary boundaries by 2100. It examines two scenarios: ‘Too Little Too Late,’ continuing current economic policies, and ‘Giant Leap,’ requiring bold decisions and investments. The report identifies five critical turnarounds—poverty, inequality, women’s empowerment, food systems, and energy transformation—and calls for active governments, wellbeing economies, and urgent action this decade. Using system dynamics models, it highlights affordable economic shifts and proposes citizens’ assemblies to overcome political barriers.
‘Can you scale your social enterprise?’ is a question often heard. This blog by Gord Tulloch challenges a narrow view of ‘scale’, which usually refers to volume and growth. Tulloch suggests there are five pathways to achieving ‘scale’ or impact, including increasing numbers, changing the rules, changing beliefs, changing norms, and changing the conditions that enable agency and distributed action.
CPA Australia’s guide aids not-for-profits, including social enterprises, in finance management, governance, risk, compliance, and tax—vital for sustainable operations.
ICDA supports community sector governance with training, accredited courses, tech tools, free resources, and financial guides for not-for-profits and social enterprises.
Shifting Ground held an interactive webinar with agents of social change representing a cross-section of First Nations social enterprises and businesses. It explored the principle: "If you can get right what you do in relation to First Nations people, your work with all people and communities will benefit."
This guide, developed by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Flinders, provides food relief organisations with strategies to move beyond emergency provision by integrating dignity, choice, and community connections. It offers practical approaches to improving service delivery, emphasising people-centered practices, community engagement, and collaboration. By focusing on long-term solutions, the guide helps address the root causes of food insecurity and fosters sustainable change within communities.
The Global Footprint Network is an international nonprofit organisation focused on measuring and tracking ecological footprints. By providing tools and data, it supports governments, businesses, and individuals in making informed decisions that promote sustainability and help live within Earth's ecological limits. The organisation works on ecological footprint accounting, policy support, and public education, offering resources to guide sustainable living and ecological resilience.
This is a long-form video lecture from Harvard Innovation Labs for conventional start-ups and business, but it provides a comprehensive framework for thinking about and planning 'go-to' market strategies.
Greening Australia addresses key environmental challenges through reforestation, habitat restoration, and climate resilience projects. By combining scientific research, community engagement, and innovative solutions, it works to restore degraded ecosystems. Its efforts include reforestation, carbon sequestration, waterway protection, and collaboration with local communities and Traditional Owners, strengthening environmental resilience and restoring Australia’s natural habitats on a national scale.
This article by Sally Osberg and Roger Martin examines how social entrepreneurs drive systemic change, highlighting Andrea and Barry Coleman’s Riders for Health. By addressing transportation gaps in African healthcare, the Colemans exemplify how leveraging expertise and engaging stakeholders can create sustainable impact. The authors argue that successful social entrepreneurs focus on specific needs while aligning broader ecosystems, enabling transformative change that goes beyond business-driven outcomes.
This Stanford article outlines nine strategies for effective board leadership in social enterprises, focusing on building legacy, fostering respect, clarifying roles, and supporting executive success. Key tactics include tailored board experiences, efficient meetings, succession planning, professional recruitment, feedback, and addressing underperformance, all aimed at creating a collaborative, impactful board culture.
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This resource, adapted from the teaching profession, provides social enterprise leaders with strategies for navigating challenging management conversations. It highlights the ineffectiveness of "hard sell" or "soft sell" approaches in driving change and maintaining relationships. Instead, it introduces the "Open to Learning" framework, emphasising validity, respect, and commitment. Leaders are guided to approach conversations with shared decision-making and an open mindset, offering a practical tool for addressing performance issues and implementing change in dynamic work environments.
Theaster Gates, a potter by training and a social activist by calling, tells his story of transforming abandoned buildings to create community hubs that connect and inspire those who live there. A famously inspiring talk, it shows how problems can be reframed as opportunities, how to start with what you’ve got, how to make something out of nothing and how culture can be a catalyst for social transformation.
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Impact Boom Blog and Podcast
PodcastsImpact Boom has undertaken 100s of interviews with social entrepreneurs and change-makers from across Australia and around the world. Produced as podcasts and blogs, their platform provides an amazing range of impact insights and stories.
The free, self-directed Impact Investing Hub Playbook supports Australia’s impact investing ecosystem, offering modular content on Impact Investing, Impact Measurement, and Revenue Diversification, tailored for investors, advisors, and organisations seeking investment.
This playbook, developed by Acumen and EY, provides a practical framework and real-world case studies for building inclusive businesses that create value for low-income and marginalised communities while maintaining financial sustainability. ‘Inclusive business’ is a term that has become popular over recent years, often used in association with emerging markets. It has many overlaps with the concept of social enterprise. The playbook argues that market forces are not invisible hands but rather collections of human decisions that can be changed to create a more equitable economy.
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