Nonprofits: Create New Income Streams While Sharing Knowledge

At the same time, nonprofit organizations re-invent wheels and re-invent mistakes as they develop information and materials that already exist in other organizations. With new, online marketplaces dedicated to nonprofit tools / templates / business plans / checklists, it’s easy to learn, share and earn with nonprofits everywhere. For this reason, many nonprofits are finding the knowledge sharing is their first social enterprise.

Through examples and discussion this fast-paced hour will include:

• Discussing social enterprise ideas with your board

• Using peer forums to learn from your nonprofit peers while challenging each other to a higher standard of excellence

• Saving your organization significant time and money by accessing resources you might not find through other means, and

• Ways to use earn enough income to make sharing worth the time

You will learn how to:

• Assess what knowledge you have that might be valuable to others

• Evaluate how to price your knowledge assets

• Promote your knowledge content easily and broadly

• Establish a peer learning forum

• Take the first steps toward convincing your board and staff that knowledge sharing is worthwhile

Nonprofit executives, Managers, Supervisors, Volunteer Coordinators, Resource Development staff, Event Managers, Board Members, Team Leaders, Marketing Managers, Program Managers, Finance Managers

 Scott Betchler-Levin is a serial entrepreneur in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He is currently co-founder of IdeaEncore Network, an on-line peer-to-peer learning marketplace (like Amazon or eBay) for nonprofits and those who support them to share, sell, and buy all types and forms of practical knowledge, innovative ideas and information assets. 

During his more than 20 years in the for-profit sector, mostly with venture-backed technology start-ups, he has defined and launched over a dozen products and services and lead teams of up to 20 marketing, customer service and business development professionals who created and supported new industries / market niches. As a social entrepreneur, Mr. Bechtler-Levin served as Founding Board Chair of Pacific Ridge School, a new independent, non-denominational middle and high school, for 6 years. 

Scott has been an active community volunteer including serving as Trustee for Pacific Ridge School, co-chairing the Social Enterprise Institute in San Diego, Trustee of WingSpan Partnerships and alumni admissions interviewer for Georgetown University.

Florence "Flo" Green is co-founder and Vice President of IdeaEncore Network. She is the recently retired Executive Director of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN), has been a leader, consultant, and trainer in the nonprofit community for over 40 years. Under her direction, CAN tripled its budget and staff size, established a highly successful public policy office in Sacramento and launched the Nonprofit Quality Reporting Initiative. 

A founder of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, the Nonprofit Management Association (now the Alliance for Nonprofit Management) and the Terry McAdam Book Award, Ms. Green is a frequent keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and consultant. Previously, she served as Director of Training at the Grantsmanship Center, taught political science, theater and speech for at Cerro Coso Community College, served on a national presidential advisory committee to review Social Science curriculum for the National Science Foundation, and published many articles about nonprofits. In 2008 for the third time she was named one of the 50 most influential nonprofit leaders in the country by The Non-Profit Times.