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10 MOOCs to discover social entrepreneurship

Having an idea for a social impact project is a good thing. Learning how to grow and implement that idea is even better. The life of an entrepreneur (be it social or other) is complex, with lots of zigs and zags: market studies, customer validations, searching for funding… many steps are involved in getting a business up and running. These are things you can learn! And we’re lucky today to have a host of opportunities available through online classes. We’ve complied a selection of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) geared toward social entrepreneurship for you, in both English and French. Now you just have to choose the best one for you.

1. Social entrepreneurship: from desire to project (FR)

A MOOC organised by the ESSEC Business School that will teach you about social entrepreneurship and make you want to get started. Clear and instructive content with meaningful and inspiring testimonies. A great starting point!

2. Becoming a change entrepreneur (FR)

Provided by Ticket for Change and HEC Paris, the approach to this course is threefold: introspection, inspiration and actions. Designed for anyone who wants to have a positive impact on society but doesn’t know how to go about it, it will help usher you from desire to idea, and from idea to action.

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3. Identifying social entrepreneurship opportunities (EN)

A comprehensive and well-crafted program offered by the Copenhagen Business School. In this MOOC, you will have the opportunity to work on a specific project with a group via exercises that will get you thinking about social issues and opportunities to seize.

4. Changing the world: time to take action (FR)

Want to learn about business models for social enterprises? Eager to get started but don’t know where to begin? Then this ESSEC Business School MOOC is just what you need. On the agenda: discovering social business plans, building a business model, and financing a project.

5. New models of business in society (EN)

The objective of this MOOC, made available by the University of Virginia, is to reconcile economic performance and social impact. You will learn how to step out of the traditional view of businesses and open your mind to ideas such as philanthropy, corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

6. Social entrepreneurship 101 (EN)

This MOOC, from +Acumen, will help you better understand the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship. On the agenda: inspiring testimonies from social entrepreneurs, case studies and practical exercises used to identify social problems, define your vision and understand the theory of change.

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7. Evaluating and measuring social impact (FR)

Why and how to measure your social impact? Which tools to choose, how to apply them and how to use the results? These are essential questions for any social entrepreneur. Don’t miss this  MOOC if your entrepreneurial project is still in the modeling phase.

8. How to finance your entrepreneurial project (FR)

Self-financing, crowdfunding, sponsoring… there is quite a wide range of solutions for financing your project (whether it’s an association or another humanitarian, solidarity or sustainable development pursuit, or not...). This MOOC will introduce you to the fundraising process and the relationships that are established with business angels and venture capitalists.

9. Financing a social impact project (FR)

This MOOC, by the ESSEC Business School, is part of a series of episodes on Impact Investing. It will help you identify your financing needs, find the funders best suited to your needs, and structure your pitch.

10. Accelerating investment readiness (ENG)

Still on the same theme, this MOOC will allow you to familiarize yourself with Impact Investing. Here are some proposed modules: how to measure its social impact, implement a strategy or how to communicate effectively around its impact.

We hope this selection will help you move forward with your social entrepreneurship project! If you think of other MOOCs to add to the list, please feel free to share!

Stock up on concrete and flexible resources on entrepreneurship here.

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