The William James Foundation seeks to identify, support, and promote the next generation of socially responsible businesses. To do so, they have gathered together nine socially responsible business plan competitions into a coordinated system with one set of deadlines and one set of entry documents. The next deadline for executive summaries is 5PM December 4th, 2009. Entry details at www.williamjamesfoundation.org/criteria.

Once the business plans have been submitted to the competition, they are reviewed by a pool of more than 350 CEOs, bankers, professors, and mission-driven entrepreneurs. These reviewers allow the foundation to provide an average of ten pages of constructive feedback per entrant per round. Other partners have contributed more than $100,000 in cash and in-kind support to the top teams.

The William James Foundation recognizes that it is just one piece of the puzzle in providing a hand up to the next generation of sustainable business. Another major resource is the associations and gatherings of those who are trying to walk the path of financial, social, and environmental viability together.

The Foundation charges a $50 processing fee to enter our competitions. That fee is reduced to $40 if the entrants are from outside of the USA, to cover any currency exchange costs.

To thank the associations who provide support to socially responsible entrepreneurs, the fee is reduced to $25 if an advisor or member of the applicant's management team is an active member in any of these organizations: Net Impact, The Social Venture Network, The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Green America Business Network, The Social Enterprise Alliance, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, The Affinity Lab, The Sustainable Business Network of Washington, Wall Street Without Walls, EcoLoCity, NCIIA, Ashoka, The Hub, The Investor's Circle, or Live Green.

A variety of other individual partners have been given application discount codes. Those codes must be included in the application email in order to receive the discount. As a bonus to readers of CSRwire, if you are not already a member of one of the organizations listed above, include "CSRwireN30" in your application email and your fee will be reduced to $25. There are also a limited number of full scholarships available to those for whom any payment would be a financial hurdle. To request a fee waiver, or ask any other questions, please contact us at competition@williamjamesfoundation.org.

Organizations and individuals with the desire and ability to provide resources and investments to the next great ideas should contact the Foundation's executive director, Ian Fisk, at ian.fisk@williamjamesfoundation.org.

Mentor Capital Network

Mentor Capital Network

Mentor Capital Network, a Washington-DC based 501(c)3, strives to advance the evolution towards a more socially responsible economy. We support new entrepreneurs who are committed to establishing socially responsible businesses and policies that will more equitably benefit all stakeholders -- consumers, employees and their families, and the public-at-large, in addition to investors.

Our main program is the Sustainable Business Plan Collaboration. Over the years, we’ve supported over 930 ventures with almost $6M worth of mentor capital, giving entrepreneurial teams customized feedback on their business plans and access to a network of over 1,000 of the world’s best industry and regional experts who have graciously given their time to support these startup teams. We seek to create and accelerate opportunities for these teams to make a serious, innovative, and scalable difference in the world.

Mentor Capital Network is the trade name of the William James Foundation.

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