The Social Innovation Project - Pilot Program
Changing the lives of others. Helping rural small businesses and non-profits to suceed.
Project Description
The Mission:
The mission of The Social Innovation Project (Pilot Program) is to help small businesses and non-profits operating in rural communities across America overcome their operational and financial management challenges for long-term sustainable growth. The purpose of the pilot is to create the documentation, templates, and the time and costs of helping organizations in order to obtain federal grant funding to implement the project on a large scale. The goal of this project is ultimately to create new job opportunities in rural communities by strengthening small businesses and non-profits (i.e. potential employers).
The Problem:
Studies show that rural small businesses face resource gaps based on wealth inequities and access to capital. Small businesses in rural communities often do not have the resources needed for business sustainment or growth. There is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic may have hastened and significantly increased the net decline for small businesses within underserved communities. According to the Small Business Association (SBA), Office of Advocacy, from 2000 to 2019, small businesses created 10.5 million net new jobs while large businesses created 5.6 million.”
In addition to small businesses, many non-profit organizations provide meaningful support to underserved populations, which include rural communities. Non-profit programming supports both short-term assistance and long-term development in communities around the world. Non-profits often fill need gaps, address immediate community concerns, and support communities in addressing longer-term structural issues. Yet, roughly thirty percent of non-profit entities fail within the first ten years or have many organizational challenges that may make them less efficient and less effective at providing to the communities they serve.
Strategic budgeting, donor acquisition/retention, and fundraising are some of the commonly cited challenges that non-profits have. As of 2019, eighty percent of non-profit funding comes from government sources which poses additional challenges for non-profit organizations, such as: restrictions on funding, additional donor requirements, and government regulations.
Market Size/Opportunity:
We estimate that we can assist about 10 organizations over a six-month period with two staff members working part-time to develop organizational documents, perform assessments, and implement custom action plans with milestones and dates for each organization.
Services To Be Provided:
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Financial Management (includes Budgeting)
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Grants Management
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Risk Management
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Internal Controls Assessments
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Data Analysis & Visualization Support
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Marketing & Sales Solutions
How can S3 Consulting solve the problem?
Both the Project Director and Project Manager have the skills and expertise to perform in-depth assessments of organizations to determine high-risk operational areas that may prevent their future success. In addition, both the Project Manager and Project Director have implemented successful changes to organizational processes.
Why are you seeking funding and how will you spend the funding?
S3 Consulting is seeking funding to gather data during a pilot program of The Social Innovation Project. During the pilot program, S3 Consulting will identify and assist small businesses and non-profits operating in rural communities. We will start by assessing the current state of the organization and determining the organization's needs.
Once an action plan with milestones and dates is in place, we will be use the action plan to guide the work that S3 Consulting will perform to assist the small business in the areas of need to ensure operational efficiency, financial management, marketing and sales structures to ensure short-term and long-term growth and sustainability. Also, having effective financial, operational, and marketing and sales structures in place will significantly increase an organization's ability to obtain financing in the form of business loans or grants.
After the pilot program is complete, S3 Consulting will apply for federal grant funding to implement The Social Innovation Project on a full-scale and hire at least two full-time staff members to support the project.
The S3 Consulting Team:
The Project Director has 10+ years of domestic and international federal financial management, operations, grants management, risk management, and internal controls experience with a Master's in Accounting. The Project Director is a Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and Microsoft Certified Data Analyst Associate (using Miscrosoft Power BI).
The Project Manager has over 16+ years in sales and marketing in the private sector with an MBA in Marketing and over 8+ years of Salesforce ERP integration and reporting experience. The Project Manager is a Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC), and Microsoft Certified Data Analyst Associate (using Miscrosoft Power BI).
Thank you for reading about our pilot project!
The Campaign FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What organization (small business or non-profit) would be considered rural?
- To identify whether a small business or non-profit is located in or servicing a rural area, we will use the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), rural area data files.
- Will assistance provided by The Social Innovation Project be compeletly free to rural small businesses and non-profits?
- Yes. All services provided to organizations will be FREE of charge.
- How long will each organization be supported?
- The length of time an organization (i.e. rural small business or non-profit) is supported depends on the action plan created after discussion with the organization and creation of the action plan with milestones and dates.
Thank you for contribution!
1 hour of my federal grants management services.
In one hour, I can walk you through the grants management process from the federal reviewer perspective. We can talk about how to register in the all the required sites, and what federal grants management specialists and other reviewers look for when they are examining applications and supporting documents (project plans, budgets and budget narratives, etc.).
3 hour review
Have you drafted a budget or budget narrative for a project or program? I can review your budget and budget narrative to look for areas of improvement and provide comments. For this, I will also need a copy of your program/project plan. For potential grant applicants, I will also need an example of organization to which you may apply for funding. Many organizations have their own preferred templates or styles that they prefer for budgets and budget narratives.
3 hours of accounting or bookkeeping service.
For example, in three hours, I can help you set up your Quickbooks or another accounting software account and talk you through the basics of how to enter your most common business transactions. We can also discuss business taxes and employee payroll.
Feel free to ask questions and be prepared to share screens via Zoom, Google Video, WebEx, or another video meeting platform to make the most of our time!
Rewards
Thank you for contribution!
1 hour of my federal grants management services.
In one hour, I can walk you through the grants management process from the federal reviewer perspective. We can talk about how to register in the all the required sites, and what federal grants management specialists and other reviewers look for when they are examining applications and supporting documents (project plans, budgets and budget narratives, etc.).
3 hour review
Have you drafted a budget or budget narrative for a project or program? I can review your budget and budget narrative to look for areas of improvement and provide comments. For this, I will also need a copy of your program/project plan. For potential grant applicants, I will also need an example of organization to which you may apply for funding. Many organizations have their own preferred templates or styles that they prefer for budgets and budget narratives.
3 hours of accounting or bookkeeping service.
For example, in three hours, I can help you set up your Quickbooks or another accounting software account and talk you through the basics of how to enter your most common business transactions. We can also discuss business taxes and employee payroll.
Feel free to ask questions and be prepared to share screens via Zoom, Google Video, WebEx, or another video meeting platform to make the most of our time!