If you ask any social impact CEO what their board is missing or what they look for in a high-performing member, the answer is entrepreneurs – individuals who have built businesses. I have found there are a few commonalities among successful entrepreneurs that CEOs need to be aware of and embrace. They are big thinkers, and therefore want big results; they are risk takers and they are time limited. If you want to engage the unicorn of board members (someone that gives time, talent and treasure on BIG scales) you need to talk the talk and walk the walk. We are seeing a new breed of social impact CEO, the Philanthropreneur.

When I first started at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, the way we matched children with adults was backwards. We looked at the children as the supply, and – not surprisingly – the supply was never ending. Because we had this constant supply, there was no urgency to make new matches. In order to get the board and the team to change their thinking, I actually drew a supply and demand curve that flipped it around, showing our mentors as a scarce resource with our kids as the never-ending demand.

We simply needed to look at the process from a different perspective, one that any successful entrepreneur would. Merely writing a check will not create the change we need in the world. The world of philanthropy needs people who approach each problem with sustainable, long-term solutions.

A philanthropreneur is someone who takes his or her business savvy and applies it to philanthropic work. Approaching your organization like a business, using business terms and practices, helps attract dynamic, high net-worth supporters that will help transform your organization through their guidance and financial support.

This budding approach to philanthropy has four basic principles that make a successful philanthropreneur:

1. A passion for helping others. Without this as the primary driving force there is really no reason for an organization to follow them.
2. An element of giving. Whether time or money, philanthropreneurs should believe in the power of giving. They need to have an understanding of what they’re asking of others.
3. Creativity. By taking a novel approach to organizational problems, philanthropreneurs can solve problems organizations didn’t even know they had.
4. Leadership. Change starts from the top, and philanthropreneurs need to be able to influence change in others. Organizing, directing, and influencing others will allow them to be the most effective.

We are challenging social impact organizations, and more directly, their CEOs to literally change the world and solve chronic, global inequalities for as little money as possible. We scrutinize their expenses; we judge them for misallocation of funds. This stems from a lack of equal exchange. Donors freely give their time and money without expecting physical return in the transaction. They rarely get excited about funding administrative expenses and – heaven forbid – someone wants to spend funds for promotion, even though marketing is a basic principle of successful enterprises. How could you possibly expect to sell anything without a substantial marketing budget?

The philanthropreneur is not afraid to turn things upside down, look at problems from outside the box and ask for what they need to make REAL change happen. They are compassionate, strategic, highly networked, influencers and risk takers. I am excited about my colleagues taking philanthropic business to a new level and what that means for our community.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is always looking for business minded individuals with a passion for change. To learn more about getting involved in Orange County, please visit www.OCBigs.org.