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Nonprofit Restructuring and Turnaround Services

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Social enterprise is a cutting edge strategy that requires innovation and keen business acumen. Nonprofits engaged in social enterprise strive to create sustainable sources of earned income for their organization, reducing dependency on unearned income. Olszak is a leader in the field of social enterprise — conducting academic and applied research, assisting nonprofits in analyzing their ventures, and promoting the concept of social enterprise nationwide.
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Do you have an enterprising idea that you want to put to work for your nonprofit? Olszak can help you examine your ideas and create a plan for a viable social enterprise. We offer:

  • Identification of organizational assets that can be leveraged to develop an enterprise
  • Expert market research and industry analysis
  • Determination of resources necessary to support the venture
  • Analysis of earned income potential
  • Survey of foundations, financiers and other stakeholders to gauge interest and support
  • Preparation of a business plan to present to potential funders and investors
  • Experience with retail, service, manufacturing, technology and agricultural ventures
  • Customized training programs in building social ventures for beginning, mid-level, or advanced organizations
"Milestone has worked with Olszak on a number of projects since 2003, from social enterprise business planning, to financial analysis, to organizational development. We’ve been very pleased with their work, and especially value Olszak’s knowledge of our people and organization. I hope in the future we’ll be working together with Olszak again."
• Kate Bayer, Director of Marketing & Development, Milestone, Inc.

Our social enterprise clients

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  • Blueroof Technologies, Inc.
  • The Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania
  • Center for Hearing and Deaf Services
  • Erie Center for Nonprofit Services
  • The Community Loan Fund
  • Duquesne University Nonprofit Leadership Institute (NLI)
  • The Forbes Funds
  • The Good Grief Center
  • Heartwood Institute
  • Glade Run Lutheran
  • Milestone, Inc. (formerly Allegheny East Mental Health and Mental Retardation)
  • National Council of Jewish Women
  • Rosedale Block Cluster
  • University of Baltimore
  • Westmoreland Museum of American Art
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Through a partnership with IdeaEncore Network, Olszak Management Consulting’s Social Enterprise Digital Library is getting a technology upgrade. IdeaEncore is an online marketplace for sharing ready-to-use tools, presentations, course outlines, templates, and project plans within and between nonprofit organizations. The Olszak Digital Library is now a collection we manage with the IdeaEncore resource sharing platform . Their system is designed to provide incentives for sharing and a range of intellectual property protections for shared materials. While access to all Olszak’s resources are free, nonprofit organizations will find many other outstanding resources that will help save them time and money by avoiding reinventing the wheel. Nonprofits are also encouraged to use share (or sell) their own practice materials on IdeaEncore or use the technology as their library backbone . It will be less expensive (revenue sharing with IdeaEncore may even result in profits instead of ongoing maintenance expenses), more robust, and can result in more information being shared among your membership than in-house knowledge sharing system.

You may browse the Olszak Social Enterprise Digital Library without signing in, but to click-through or download resources, a quick and free registration is required. If you choose to upload your own free resources, there is no charge. If you choose to sell resources through IdeaEncore, they deduct their transaction fee (15-30% with $5 minimum) from the sales price and then will send you a check for the balance.

"Olszak took the time to get to know what we wanted to achieve as a start-up organization and incorporated that understanding into their work with us. We were able to define our mission and business model in terms that have a base in reality for us."
• John Bertoty, Executive Director, Blueroof Technologies
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