Feeding someone, teaching them to catch a fish, or teaching them to fish

During my travels, I saw countless projects that uplifted communities for a short time but then failed due to lack of money. These types of organization have made a great impact on communities but have not been able to sustain their impact.

I started to learn about social enterprises and realized that the problems, of this world, are too big for charities to handle on their own. These projects can last longer and support more people when the money continues to come in.

To keep the money flowing, the support you give needs to create your source of funds. For example, you can use money to teach a person to fish, but then you need to sell those fish to teach more people to fish.

That way, the support is in equal proportion to the level of help you can offer. This has two huge benefits. First you are teaching people how to work. If your organization fails the people will have training and opportunity to get other jobs. The second is you are offering an incentive to work hard. The people quickly learn that their efforts produce a better life. These opportunities give these people hope outside your organization. When their individual skillsets advance, beyond your organization, these individuals will be able to find employment elsewhere.