The Sustainable Ventures’ Guide to Cultivating Social Capital

Social capital is to the sustainable venture, what investor and analyst relationships are to the public company.

Consider the following criteria not as a “to-do” list but as a “work-in-progress” list that you can refer to and apply to help further the success of your sustainable ventures and cultivate social capital through community engagement.

Raising Social Capital

1. Be inclusive: -  that means leaving a place at the table for every person or organization affected by the issues, even if they’re considered part of the problem.
2. Focus on possibilities rather than problems
3. Look beyond your organizational or market boundaries to connect with the broader community. - Create a transdisciplinary network of partners in possibilities who have a similar interest in increasing the adoption of sustainable practices within your extend communities. Elevate your shared vision and pool your resources and efforts for organic change.
4. Offer a view of the available assets and resources at the community level. It’s amazing how animated a group becomes when they can shift from feeling powerless to powerful. Making the values and assets of the community visible creates a sense of hope and co-inspiration.
5. Offer tools and techniques to help constituents examine their untested beliefs and choose new actions from right where they are today. We are each at a different stage of readiness when it comes to assuming responsibility for our collective wealth and well-being. The most important aspect in inspiring the adoption of sustainable practices is that we help people become more aware of their unconscious, unsustainable habits and the untested beliefs and assumptions that drive this behavior. Along with that we need to model new possibilities for living in line with our personal and collective values.
6. Treat constituents (customers or otherwise) more like investors than consumers. Constituent relationships are to the sustainable enterprise, what investor and analyst relationships are to a public company. Few companies have the resources to connect one on one with every constituent. But if you integrate social media and adopt the other principles on this list you’ll find that you can create high-quality community relationships and cultivate social capital organically, even on a shoestring budget.
7. Focus on building quality relationships rather than on generating short-term transactions and events That means easing off on the incentives and rewards in many cases. It’s nice to offer perks. But incentives are part of the deficiency suite of tools in communications. You start handing out carrots and people instinctively believe that the stick is not far behind.
8. Foster connections and sharing among constituents The healthiest and most empowered communities are those that cultivate and maintain a strong sense of belonging. This is social capital at its most powerful and purposeful. People care for and contribute freely in the places where they feel understood, appreciated, accepted and connected.
9. Balance strategic industry knowledge and organizational communications with organic community and constituent wisdom
10. Provide direct access to a living, breathing human being via email, IM, social media or a phone thingy