Social Edge’s Top Book Picks for Social Entrepreneurs

We have been asked at Social Edge for recommended reading for the aspiring and practicing social entrepreneurs. So besides our extremely useful blogs on Social Edge, Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg’s article on Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition, and Bill Drayton’s Everyone a Changemaker article, here, in no particular order, are our top 10 books on social entrepreneurship followed by our top 10 related books that can help social entrepreneurs succeed:

top 10 social entrepreneurship books…

Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs by J. Gregory Dees
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein (interview)

Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector by Jane Wei-Skillern, James Austin, Herman Leonard

Good to Great and the Social Sectors by Jim Collins

Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits(discussion)

by Leslie Crutchfield, Heather McLeod Grant

Make the Impossible Possible by Bill Strickland (excerpt)

Tactics of Hope by Wilford Welch (excerpt)

The Power of Unreasonable People by John Elkington, Pamela Hartigan, and Klaus Schwab (excerpt)

Be Bold by Cheryl L. Dorsey and Lara Galinsky

The Search for Social Entrepreneurship by Paul Charles Light (excerpt)

10 helpful books for social entrepreneurs…

Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand by Shel Holtz and John C. Havens
CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World by Tom Watson. (excerpt)
The Zen of Fundraising: 89 Timeless Ideas to Strengthen and Develop Your Donor Relationships by Ken Burnett
The Porcupine Principle: And Other Fundraising Secrets by Jonathan Farnhill
Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age by Allison Fine
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
ROI For Nonprofits: The New Key to Sustainability by T. Ralser
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin (excerpt)
Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds
A Sense of Urgency by by John P. Kotter

New:

The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz (excerpt)
The Social Entrepreneur Revolution by Martin Clark
Pollyanna Principles by Hildy Gottlieb
Your Chance to Change the World: The No-fibbing Guide to Social Entrepreneurship by Craig Dearden-Phillips
and new in paperback Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunus.

For more social entrepreneur related suggestions including films like those produced by Participant Productions, you can visit our Social Edge holiday gift guides from 2007 and 2008.

You may also enjoy Ode Magazine and Fast Company Magazine – both have featured social entrepreneurs, with the latter having an annual special edition.

And if your sponge-like interest in absorbing all information social entrepreneurial in nature extends to academia, most of the schools offering social entrepreneurship courses make their case studies and curriculum materials open source. Check out: University Network, Caseplace.org, Harvard Business School for educators, ECCH the european clearing house for case studies, and every school has its own portal, e.g. www.iesep.com.

Enjoy and feel free to comment here with other recommended reading material!