A new, searchable online directory of Canadian social enterprises is now live and accepting listings, which are free for Canadian social enterprises that meet the criteria below.
The Directory is a project of the BC Centre for Social Enterprise, and has been completed over the space of a few years, thanks to the spirit and skills of volunteers who have harnessed their passion to help to grow the sector. Special shout-outs to 1st on the List Promotion and Joe Devaney at Video Tax News!
A Social Enterprise, for the purpose of this resource:
- is an ongoing organization or venture;
- is created with the primary goal of achieving an environmental, social, and/or cultural mission; and
- uses earned income strategies by selling products and/or services in its operation.
Prospective customers can search social enterprises by location, service / good on offer, and social cause. We believe that the directory has the potential to connect your social enterprise with your ideal customer base – folks who seek to do good with their purchasing dollars, and who identify with your organization’s fundamental values.
The process of adding your social enterprise to the directory should take no more than 10 minutes, and is entirely free. If you would like to do so, please click here to get started.
To speed up the process, gather a digital copy of your social enterprise’s logo and an image of the good or service that your social enterprise offers. If your organization has more than one social enterprise, we recommend a listing for each social enterprise, to make the customers’ search more meaningful.
Some tips, to make the process even easier!
- Review the definition of ‘social enterprise’ for the purpose of this Directory, to make sure that the venture is a fit. Privately-owned enterprises are not suited for this project. Likewise, social programs that are not selling a good or a service are not considered to be social enterprises.
- When completing the listing fields, be sure to promote the social enterprise itself, rather than a parent organization that may be operating the social enterprise.
- For those groups that operate several social enterprises, we recommend adding a listing for each venture, for ease of customer searching.
- Users should have 2 images ready to upload — the logo of the social enterprise, and a colour photo or illustration of the good or service being offered.
