You’re probably sitting on an unrealized venture right now. Startups.co.uk points us to a report from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) indicating approximately seven out of every 10 people doing so.

Though 80% of folks claim they have had an idea that would have a ‘positive impact on everybody’s lives,’ about 72% of those ideas never come to fruition. The report lists what people state they are missing to fulfill their visions:

• available funding (36%)
• confidence (31%)
• direction (25%)

While I would be interested to review NESTA’s methodology (especially its sample parameters), I don’t think the results are surprising. Though the entrepreneurial excuses are obvious, they are also thought-provoking. The major question in response should be, what can we do to support potential social entrepreneurs?

This scenario reminded me of an innovative project I failed to participate in over the summer. In fact, you could say I fell into the third who were not confident about an entrepreneurial idea. I was excited about the concept of the American Express Membership Project, but for some reason was blocked on expressing my idea at the time.

If you made the American Express Membership Project into a Venn Diagram, it would fall in the center of Facebook, American Idol, and a corporate-sponsored giving circle, leveraging online social networking tools and corporate dollars for democratically-chosen ideas. American Express asked its cardmembers to register online, submit ideas, and vote on entries. For each member who joined, American Express committed a $1 donation (with a minimum $1 million) and a total of up to $5 million. Ultimately, the credit card company dispersed $2 million to a UNICEF project for ““Children’s Safe Drinking Water” and four other organizations.

Reflecting upon the results, the real downside is all five recipients were more established NGOs. I would have liked for a real startup project to have won, given smaller social enterprises have more difficulty finding financial support. Even with NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund, a project near to my heart that funds small social ventures through a democratic giving circle model, is restricted to supporting nonprofits or groups seeking 501(c)(3) status.  Current legal forms and tax structures are a major reason for that.

What is great about NYC-VPF is that it does address all three excuses entrepreneurs make for not realizing a world-changing idea.  While providing funding to the Davids (versus Goliaths) of social enterprise, NYC-VPF supplements grants with technical support to help provide the confidence and direction social entrepreneurs need to get their ventures off the ground.

I believe the American Express Members Project and NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund can be good models for supporting social entrepreneurs.  There are a number of other organizations that fund social entrepreneurs, several of which I mentioned here.  I look forward to hearing about more opportunities for everyday people to pursue extraordinary visions.

Recently, I was tapped to join the newly formed New York City Venture Philanthropy Fund. NYC-VPF is a giving circle whose members’ pooled funds and professional expertise are granted in support of social entrepreneurial projects within the five boroughs.

My role so far, as part of the Donor/Membership Development Sub-committee, has been to begin planning the organization’s launch party (which actually we have divided into a “soft” and “hard” launch). With a background in advertising, I naturally engaged in a critical discussion on branding with two guidance board members.

In discussing what we wanted to convey through a logo and tagline, it became apparent we would need to choose something short and accessible since the group’s name isn’t exactly that. The irony is NYC-VPF embodies democratic philanthropy, and is probably one of the most accessible philanthropic vehicles out there.

In NYC-VPF, anyone can become a member for $365 a year; members are able to vote on grant recipients; and grantees receive support to undertake innovative approaches to solving persistent social problems. While the level to join is low and the concept is exciting and relate-able for most, the language “venture philanthropy” can be a bit alienating for those not familiar.

When we broke NYC-VPF down into its most basic essence, we determined it was about “small money, big change.” The “small money” contrasts with notions of “big money” and “old money,” characterizing traditional philanthropic entities such as foundations. The “big change” refers to the impact of a large community pooling individual “small money” and professional skills to support results-oriented social entrepreneurial problem-solving. We think it works; what do you think?