The U.S. Commercial Service, in collaboration with the Social Sector Committee of the International Franchise Association and The Global Franchise Team, is offering a webinar, ‘Social Sector Franchising’s Impact Across Africa’ on May 14, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. EST.

Mark your calendars and register! There is no cost to attend.

This informative webinar will highlight how commercial franchise practices can be adapted to scale enterprises with a social mission. USCS, IFA, and franchising industry contacts globally are invited to attend.

Join us to learn about social sector franchising's impact in Africa and to help foster these opportunities globally. The webinar will feature:

Eric Johnson, Global Franchising Team Leader, U.S. Commercial Service
Marla Rosner, Senior Learning & Development Consultant, MSA Worldwide
Galen Welsch, Co-Founder & CEO, Jibu, Inc.
Lynda Toussaint, CEO, Unjani Clinics NPC
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For full details, see the webinar flyer (PDF).
Do join us!

The Social Sector Committee is pleased to announce the publication of two additional videos in the Explainer Video series. The first, Fee Structures of Commercial Franchises, discusses the typical fee structure of commercial franchises, structures which you may want to adopt or adapt for your social franchise. The second new video, Fee Structures of Social Franchises - Examples, provides examples of how two social franchisors have established their fee structures.
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​Both videos are available here on our website, as well as on the Social Sector Committee's Youtube channel.

New to social franchising? The "explainer video" series from the IFA Social Sector Committee will provide you with a solid overview of the principles of social franchising, and the practicalities of creating and running social franchises. The series has launched with videos viewable here on the Social Sector Committee website as well as on YouTube:

Introduction to Social Franchising – from Peter Holt, Vice Chairman of the Social Sector Franchising Committee.

Getting Ready to Franchise – learn about getting ready to franchise with two real-life examples.

Setting Standards in Franchising – learn about the role of standards in franchising, and see two examples from social sector franchisors.

The Importance of Contracts in Commercial and Social Franchising – What are the key aspects of contracts and why are they important in commercial and social sector franchising? This video explains the key elements of contracts and how they are constructed.

Examples of Contracts in Social Franchising – This video presents examples of contracts from two social franchisors that use the key elements explained in the video above.

Stay tuned for additional explainer videos in the weeks ahead!

Deadline to Apply extended to September 15, 2021

The International Franchise Association’s Social Sector Committee, in partnership with the University of New Hampshire’s Rosenberg International Franchise Center, invites eligible social enterprises, NGOs, and mission-driven businesses to apply to participate in the Social Franchise Virtual Accelerator program beginning October 13, 2021 and continuing through April, 2022.

We are seeking mission-driven social enterprises and NGOs that:

• Focus on delivering essential products or services to consumers or businesses in underserved communities
• Have replicated a proven model in at least 2-3 active locations, which have been operating for 3+ years
• Seek to scale their impact by increasing the number of locations

The Virtual Accelerator Program will pair each participant with a highly skilled commercial franchise professional for monthly one-on-one advising, and will host monthly peer group meetings to address challenges participants are dealing with in their respective enterprises. Participants will also have access to a community of practitioners from social enterprises, commercial franchises, law practices, and other skill areas.

Applications are now available by emailing [email protected]. Social enterprises from any country may apply, but the program participant must have the ability to communicate in English. The deadline for all applications is 5 p.m. EDT on September 15, 2021.

You are invited to join the University of New Hampshire Rosenberg International Franchise Center and the International Franchise Association Social Sector Franchising Committee for a special webinar:

Realizing the Promise of Social Franchising
Wednesday, March 24, 2021,10:00-11:30 a.m. ET

Panelists include:

• Dr E. Hachemi Aliouche – Director, Rosenberg International Franchise Center, University of New Hampshire;
• Dr Fiona Wilson - Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer and Director, Sustainability Institute, University of New Hampshire;
• Greg Starbird - Founder & Principal, Starbird Consulting LLC
• Sabrina Habib - Co-founder, Kidogo

Franchising has a proven record of promoting and sustaining business expansion. Socially minded entrepreneurs are turning to this model in a quest to achieve growth and large-scale social impact. As panelists Aliouche, Starbird and Wilson write in their most recent article just published in the Stanford Social Innovations Review (February 2021), “If the success of commercial franchising could be harnessed for positive social impact, the benefits would be immense. They would include improved access to products and services for tens of millions of people; ownership opportunities at the base of the pyramid (BoP) for tens of thousands of franchisees; creation of jobs for hundreds of thousands of people employed by franchisees and franchisors; and spillover benefits, such as healthy pressure on local suppliers to improve the quality of their products and services to a level high enough to win contracts to supply franchise networks.” Social franchising is emerging as a promising powerful approach to multiplying the impacts of social enterprises. However, significant obstacles stand in the way of social franchising achieving its full potential.

Key questions addressed in this webinar include:

• Why is franchising such a promising model for large-scale social impact?
• What are some examples of promising social franchises and how are they doing?
• What are key challenges commonly faced by social franchises?
• How did these promising social franchises overcome these challenges?
• What lessons can we draw from the experiences of vastly different social franchises?

For more information about the event and to register, visit: https://www.unh.edu/rosenbergcenter/realizing-promise-social-franchising

Agenda:

• 10:00 am - 10:05 am:  Introduction – Marla Rosner
• 10:05 am – 11:00 am:  The Promise of Social Franchising
  Moderator: Peter Holt
  Panelists: Hachemi Aliouche, Greg Starbird, Fiona Wilson
• 11:00 am – 11:30 am:  The Kidogo Story – Sabrina Habib
• 11:30 am:  Closing Remarks – Peter Holt

By Deborah Burand, David Koch, and Katy Yang

This detailed whitepaper examines why social enterprises seeking to scale up might (or might not) opt for a franchise model, vs. alternative growth strategies. The paper also examines how to create durable franchise relationships that advance the desired social and environmental impact, as well as financial objectives, while aligning the interests of franchisors around these double bottom lines (social and financial returns). Many useful examples are presented along with a critical analysis of pros, cons, and trade-offs, as well as “how to” guides on how social franchises can develop and negotiate franchising contracts. The paper also covers development of operations manuals for social franchises, which may differ from manuals for commercial franchise businesses. A consistent and notable theme throughout the piece is the centrality of alignment of interests and commitment to mission between the franchisor and franchisee, and recognition of the reality that strength in those relationships is critical to the long-term success, growth, and sustainability of both the franchise network and the franchisee's particular operation.