公益與營利的蹺蹺板──社會企業在臺灣的生存之戰

Abstract

有鑑於台灣近年來從民間興起的社會企業風潮，不管是非營利組織轉型社企、或是創立公司型社企，有越來越多想要解決社會問題、環抱理想的社企家投入這場公民運動中，特別是想要改變世界的年輕人。 但不管是哪種形式，要創設一個滿足公益、營利等多重底線要求的社企，困難度遠高於一般創業。除了面臨組織內部商業管理、人才流失等的挑戰外，也面臨外部政府政策、社企定義不清等因素，讓社會企業的生存更加雪上加霜。 因此本報導藉由採訪四個不同領域發展制度較為完善的社會企業，分別是代表社區文創型的小鎮文創、合作社型的248農學市集、非營利組織轉型的新生命資訊及工作整合型的黑暗中對話，探討他們一路在發展社會企業上所面臨的困難與挑戰如何在公益與營利間取得平衡；也採訪年輕人投入社會企業的趨勢、爬梳全球社會企業的風潮、並採訪政府如何借鏡國外社企發展、協助民間發展，使社企在臺灣能遍地開花。

In light of a groundswell of social enterprises which rises from civil society in Taiwan recently, whether it is non-profit organizations transforming into social enterprises or benefit cooperation, more and more idealistic people want to solve the social problems and dive into this social civic movement, especially young people who want to attribute goods to the society. No matter in which way, compared to the normal business startups, it’s much more difficult to set up a social enterprise which needs to meet the purpose of philanthropy and profit. Nevertheless, a social enterprise has to face internal challenges, such as, business management and talent outflows as well as external challenges like government’s policy-making strategies and the vague definition of social enterprises, which will definitely make the circumstance even worse. Therefore, this report interviewed four different kinds of social enterprises with well-developed systems, and included obstacles and challenges they face in founding a social enterprise, and how to strike a balance between philanthropy and profit. The four kinds of social enterprises include (1) community & cultural innovative type: Town Way; (2) non-profit organizations transforming into social enterprises type: New Live Information Service; (3) co-operative type: 248 Farmer Market; (4) work integration type: Dialogue in The Dark. This report interviewed young people who are dedicated to social enterprises, and analyzed the global trends. It also interviewed government representatives about how they learn from other countries’ experiences and help social enterprises develop in Taiwan.