Context
When we began talking to people in Grafton about social enterprise, the concept was largely unknown. The term did not resonate. Religious institutions face a governance and investment challenge in transitioning traditional participation alongside significant physical assets and community presence. Social enterprise – alternative revenue generation through assets and services that remain aligned with community purpose – was seen as a natural fit for these institutions, but the pathway from concept to practice was unclear.
The Grafton Anglican Cathedral already had an Op Shop that is referenced as a social enterprise. The Dean of the Cathedral [title needed] Naomi Cooke expressed an interest in seeing how the social enterprise concept might be expanded into other areas of the cathedral.
Feedback from the Readiness Index survey included:
- “Social enterprise is one pathway, but it takes time and investment to do it well”
- “Funding opportunities, be it philanthropic and government, are poorly advertised – if you know, you know and if you don’t, you are out of the loop”
- “There are no groups specifically designed to support social enterprise”
What we did
The concept of social enterprise was familiar to some of the impact facilitators, and three came together to co-lead a social enterprise focus area. StartSomeGood, a national social enterprise intermediary, delivered a local workshop that attracted six people, while a business model canvas session for social enterprise did not attract any participants and engaging institutions including TAFE around the concept did not result in tangible outcomes. We questioned whether the social enterprise label itself was a barrier in regional communities where most businesses are already doing what good they can without needing an additional identity.
Where the concept did land was with Naomi Cooke at the Anglican Cathedral. Naomi had a loose understanding of social enterprise and no clear pathway to develop it. Our role was to help her shape the idea and then demonstrate it. The SIITR25 National Pitchfest was held in the Cathedral, with Naomi welcoming delegates into the space. The conference welcome event that evening was catered by the Cathedral team and served as a significant fundraiser. Professional video and photography from the event gave Naomi a marketing package to attract future bookings. The Cathedral demonstrated that it could function as an event venue, generating revenue while serving a community purpose.
What shifted
- Clarity and understanding improved as the concept of social enterprise moved from abstract to demonstrated. Naomi saw what her asset could produce not through a workshop or a label but through a live event that generated revenue, visibility, and a marketing package. The Readiness Index scored vision at 2.2 and roles and organisations at 2.6; the Cathedral activation gave Naomi a concrete vision for what the institution could become and made visible a role of the heritage venue as a social enterprise that did not previously exist in the community’s understanding of itself.
- Connection and connectivity generated outcomes that would not have occurred through existing channels. The leaders involved in the social enterprise focus area are now working more closely together. This addresses the internal connections indicator (baseline 2.7). External connections (baseline 3.1) were activated with connections to the Social Enterprise Council of NSW and ACT making direct contact with both Naomi and Ursula to support their social enterprise development. The conference created a boundary-spanning connection between a national intermediary and local practitioners that neither would have initiated independently.
- Capability and capacity shifted from aspiration to investment-readiness. Naomi moved from “a blob of an idea” to having a demonstrated model, a marketing package, and a connection to SECNA to be ready for a grant application to a foundation that would invest in a proven concept. The indicators most directly in play are organisational sustainability (baseline 2.6) and access to capital – grants and philanthropy (baseline 2.4).
- Collaboration for purpose is emerging. The connection between the social enterprise leads is forming into a working relationship that extends beyond the conference. Whether this develops into a structured collaboration with shared goals and measured progress remains to be seen. The Chamber of Purpose may provide the collaborative infrastructure that this cluster of leaders needs.
- Advocacy and promotion shifted through the conference itself. The Cathedral hosting the National Pitchfest and welcome event generated media coverage and professional content that Naomi can use for ongoing promotion to strengthening the promotion indicator (baseline 2.8). The broader social enterprise narrative remains weak in Grafton; the term still does not resonate widely. But for the institutions directly involved, the concept in practice now has a demonstrated example to point to rather than a label to explain.
What’s forming (Impact)
- Economic: The Cathedral demonstrated a new revenue model aligned with community purpose and a direct contribution to diverse economic structure and livelihood strategies. The welcome event served as a significant fundraiser, and the marketing package enables future bookings. Relevant indicators include openness to micro enterprises, where the Cathedral’s exploration of venue hire represents a new form of enterprise for a heritage institution, and business cooperation, where the catering, photography, and event production involved collaboration across multiple local providers. Whether this produces stable income or remains event-dependent is the test.
- Social: The activation strengthened connectedness across community groups by linking faith-based, disability, and community services sectors that had not previously collaborated despite shared institutional roots. Collective memories and shared experience were formed through the Pitchfest and welcome event with visible, public moments in a heritage space that carried cultural weight. Place attachment was reinforced as the Cathedral demonstrated its ongoing relevance to community life beyond its traditional religious function.
- Individual: Naomi’s development from an undefined aspiration to investment-readiness is the clearest individual impact. Her existing skills in event management, stakeholder engagement, and social enterprise development were expanded through the process. This contributes to individual sustainability indicators of personal capacity, alignment of interests and capability and to the broader pipeline of social enterprise capability in the community. The professional video and photography gave her tools for ongoing self-advocacy that she did not previously have.
- Institutional: The Cathedral is exploring models that diversify its institutional role and revenue, a direct response to the governance and investment challenge where declining traditional participation meets significant physical assets. Relevant indicators include innovation and technology uptake, where a heritage institution is adopting new operational models, and multi-stakeholder planning, where the Cathedral’s emerging role as a community venue requires engagement with sectors beyond its congregation.
- Infrastructure: The Cathedral demonstrated multi-functionality of spaces as a heritage building serving as a conference venue, fundraising platform, and social enterprise demonstration site. This is not new physical infrastructure but a repurposing of an existing asset, relevant to the infrastructure indicator of multi-functionality of spaces and facilities. The professional content package is a piece of promotional infrastructure that persists beyond the event.
- Environmental: No direct environmental impact is expected from this initiative.
