Coffee Table Book Aims to be the ‘Bible’ For Social Enterprises
20 June 2017 at 3:04 pm
Work on a coffee-table book which is hoping to become “a bible for social enterprises” has begun.
The Dollars and Sense book, the brainchild of Flight Centre co-founder and philanthropist Geoff Harris, will feature up to 50 social enterprises from across Australia, with a particular focus on Victoria.
Dollars and Sense author Neil Bramwell told Pro Bono News the content of the premium coffee table book would be a series of cases studies of social enterprises.
“What will be featured is the business stories and the various business models. We want to create a bible of social enterprises,” Bramwell said.
Bramwell said he and Harris, who is funding the project, were hoping to promote the “great work and good deeds” of the sector and promote sustainable business models.
“[The book] is for anybody who wants to get into the sector, they can read all these stories about people that have gone before them and become aware of the wrap around services that are available,” Bramwell said.
“The aims are twofold really, the main one is to promote the sector and bring people into the sector who are not only budding social entrepreneurs but people who want to make more of an impact with their private investments.
“Secondly, and quite crucially, we want to become a social enterprise ourselves and we are doing that by making three grants of $20,000 each available to three of the participants in the book.”
Bramwell said it was important that the book gave back to the sector.
“Social enterprises that feature in the book will also have a half day photo shoot and they will have permission to use the photographs after publication,” Bramwell said.
“They can also buy discounted stock and sell them on to their supporters so that might be a little bit more revenue for them.”
Presently, Bramwell is talking to sponsors and has begun work to collect the stories of social enterprises.
“We hope to canvas a diverse range of social enterprises doing a variety of work,” he said.
Bramwell said all of the books he had encountered on social enterprises so far tended to be “quite dry and theory driven books”.
“We are trying to make this a lot more engaging, it’s about the people: the beneficiaries, the entrepreneurs and visionaries,” he said.
The premium coffee style book will have an initial run of 7,000 to 10,000 and is aiming for publication in March 2018.
