Son Christopher and his great team at Bull City Forward happily celebrating first anniversary. Almost like a new grandchild for his old man. - David Gergen
Follow Bull City Forward's progress on Twitter @BullCityForward and on Facebook: Bull City Forward.
The Herald-Sun | Christine T. Nguyen
Bull City Forward chief Christopher Gergen is photographed in front of the offices of Bull City Forward. The nonprofit is celebrating is one year anniversary.
DURHAM -- Bull City Forward, a nonprofit that aims to support and grow social entrepreneurship in Durham, is turning 1, and is planning to celebrate that fact.
And with one year under its belt, the nonprofit that now operates in downtown Durham in offices at 101 W. Main St. is also looking to expand.
Christopher Gergen, the Duke University lecturer at the head of the entrepreneurship-focused organization, said the nonprofit is opening offices in the next month in Charlotte.
Gergen said that effort, called Queen City Forward, is part of a vision for a statewide network of social entrepreneurship-focused organizations. Ultimately, Gergen said he wants to see offices in five or six cities across the state in the next several years.
"The reason behind the statewide network is we believe one of the biggest values we can provide to the entrepreneurial community is relationships with one another," Gergen said. "By expanding into Charlotte, it's our first effort to try and enrich the network to create sort of a broader connection across from the Triangle down to the Charlotte region."
In Durham, Gergen said the nonprofit experienced a slower membership start. He said it recently met the 100-member mark, about 20 of which are full-time members, and its offices are now "starting to really fill up to capacity."
"Recently we've seen a really warm embrace by the entrepreneurial community," he said. "We are now seeing a steady stream of folks that are reaching out to us."
He said obstacles the nonprofit has seen is funding and also getting people to grasp the nonprofit's mission.
"We have a whole bunch of people who are really enthusiastic about Bull City Forward, but the funding's been really hard to come by," he said.
In the first year, Gergen said the nonprofit raised $100,000 for a planting grant. Since then the nonprofit has been on a "pretty good path" to raise more funds, but fundraising has been difficult.
Gergen said the nonprofit has found ways to augment its revenue through earned income opportunities such as contracts to run programs for government offices or other nonprofits.
For the current fiscal year, the nonprofit has a $500,000 budget that he said is expected to come 65 percent from grants, 15 percent from membership, with the remainder from contract work.
He said he believes financial partners have been in a "wait and see mode," but he said he now expects to see more long-term investments.
"People are starting to see that we're really delivering on our plan and delivering significant value to the community," he said. "As a result of that, the conversations we have now are continuing to become more and more exciting."
He said he believes the nonprofit is moving forward in meeting its goals. It has a four-part strategy: to grow more social entrepreneurs through programs in grade schools and universities, to create an environment that the entrepreneurs can grow in, to measure the impact their having, and then to advocate and communicate its message.
He highlighted some of the programs the nonprofit is developing in those four areas, including a partnership with Durham Public Schools. He said a program at two high schools is scheduled to launch in the fall that is part of the effort to cultivate social entrepreneurs.
He said the program will work with students to give them an entrepreneurial mindset, and will help them develop specific ideas for bringing about change in their communities.
"I'm feel really, really good about where we are, but I'm very excited about where we're going," Gergen said of the nonprofit's direction.
For the office in Charlotte, Gergen said the goal is to raise $200,000 for the launch. He said the city government is considering an investment in the initiative, as is the Foundation for The Carolinas, and he said Duke Energy has made a pledge.
The nonprofit will be housed in 3,000 square feet of a 90,000-square-foot building called Packard Place that he said is being turned into a hub for entrepreneurs.
He said there is interest in Charlotte in social entrepreneurship, he said, although the city's economy is based in the financial sector.
"They'd really like to spur the number of entrepreneurial firms that are emerging from the city," he said.
Bull City Forward has plans to celebrate its one year anniversary with an event at the nonprofit's offices from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. Guests are asked to RSVP at http://bullcityforward.org Twitter @bullcityforward
By LAURA OLENIACZ
loleniacz@heraldsun.com; 419-6636