1. Scaling for Social Impact: From Dignitas to Citizen Schools to …Relay

2. The Entrepreneurial Process in Action
Prove the Business Model
The “Entrepreneurial Process”
Growth and Maturity
Business Complexity
Idea to
Opportunity
Product Dev.
To Launch
Launch to
Scale and Sustainability
Grow and Evolve
Time
©2006 Lynda Applegate, adapted

3. Common Scaling Challenge: Scaling Out
Scaling Out: spreading social sector innovations into new geographic locations in order to achieve greater impact
Dees, G “Scaling for Social Impact: Exploring Strategies for Spreading Social Innovations,” Beth Battle Anderson Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business

4. Scaling Out Process Step 1: Assess the Opportunity:
Should we consider scaling out at this time?
Step 2:
Define the Innovation:
Do we have anything truly worthy of scaling out?
Step 3:
Identify Promising Paths:
Can we scale out our innovation effectively?
Step 4:
Develop an Action Plan:
What steps do we need to take to pursue our chosen path?
yes
yes
yes no no no
Find a Partner
Enhance Readiness
Scale Deep
Enhance Readiness
Test and Refine
Dees, G. “Scaling for Social Impact: Exploring Strategies for Spreading Social Innovations,” Beth Battle Anderson Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business

5. Step 1: Assessing the Opportunity
Four dimensions of opportunity
Impact: Do you have anything worth scaling out?
Need: Is there significant unmet or poorly met need elsewhere?
Organization: Do you have sufficient organizational support and stability?
Timing: Is this a particularly good time for exploring scale seriously?
Dees, G. “Scaling for Social Impact: Exploring Strategies for Spreading Social Innovations,” Beth Battle Anderson Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business

6. scaling deep or scaling out? Can we do both well?
Potential Tension
IMPACT
NEED in home community
NEED in other communities
“Scale Out”: Spread impact to new communities
“Scale Deep”: Increase impact in home community
If there is need at home and in other communities, how do we decide where to focus our efforts –
scaling deep or scaling out? Can we do both well?
Dees, G “Scaling for Social Impact: Exploring Strategies for Spreading Social Innovations,” Beth Battle Anderson Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business

7. Options If You Decide to Scale Out
How: Mechanisms for Spreading Impact
Dissemination
Affiliation
Branching
Loose Moderate Tight
Organization
Program
Principles
What: Defining the Social Innovation
Dees, G. 2014

8. Step 2: Defining the Innovation
A process for determining what you have that is worth scaling
Understand the different forms
Articulate your social impact theory
Assess its robustness
Identify the core elements
Define the innovation
Assess its transferability
Revise your definition as necessary
Dees, G. 2014

9. Form and Specificity Organization Program Principles
Structure, Systems, Culture
Program
Integrated Set of Activities
Principles
Guidelines and/or Values
Form of Innovation
Low
High
Degree of Specificity
Dees, G. 2014

10. Intermediate Outcomes
Social Impact Theory
A social impact theory describes the path from what you do to the ultimate impact you intend to create.
Organization
Programs
Intended
Impact
Intermediate Outcomes
Activities
Principles
Assumptions
Assumptions
Assumptions
Environment
Dees, G. 2014

11. The Core: What are the core elements of your business/your reason for being?
With a robust social impact theory you can identify the core elements by asking
What makes this approach distinctive?
Which elements are essential for achieving the intended impact?
Which elements play crucial supporting roles?
Which elements could be changed without doing much harm to the intended impact?
Adapted from Dees, G. 2014

12. Organizational Identity
As you consider different scaling options, consider what the organization’s identity is or will become?
What is the role of the organization in the sector for each option you are considering?
What are the essential activities that are the foci of the organization’s strategy for each?
How closely tied are these roles/are these activities to where the organization began, to its original mission and purpose?

13. Risks to your Organization
Evaluating Risks
Is your innovation difficult to implement? What are the risks of incorrect implementation?
Risks to Society
Risks to your Organization
The risk of incorrect implementation should decline as you move towards greater central coordination, but the organizational risks increase.
Dees, G. 2014