Social Entrepreneurial Strategic Decision Making - SESDM

Successful non-profits should think like for-profits and strategically position themselves for growth and scale. Social Entrepreneurial Strategic Decision Making (SESDM) is a 3-step process implemented to align with strategic goals of the foundation or public charity.



1) Recognize the problem situation
2) Generate alternatives
3) Evaluate the alternatives
4) Select the alternative that best fits the criteria

Social Entrepreneurs differ from traditional corporate managers because they work with limited information, accept higher risk, are proactive in nature and highly decisive.

Some examples of strategic goals in the non-profit sector:

• Eliminate all food deserts in the U.S. by 2020
• Eliminate childhood food insecurity in the U.S. by 2025
• Eliminate poverty in U.S. by 2030

SESDM is inherently complex, uncertain, rational and controlled. Social entrepreneurs must consider the relevant facts, variables and contingencies. Despite this effort, not all data is known and therefor uncertainty remains. However, rationality and control is established by the social entrepreneurs adeptness in strategic planning based upon the goal and purposeful actions.