Social Enterprise

Definitions of Social Enterprise vary. Generally social enterprises are business' that have a social and/or environmental objective as part of its core mission.  Social Enterprises often use blended value business models that combine a revenue-generating business with a social-value-generating structure or component. Many commercial businesses would consider themselves to have social objectives, but social enterprises are distinctive because their social or environmental purpose is central to what they do.

Below are definitions sourced from leading sources in the field.

Social enterprises are business ventures operated by non-profits, with the dual purpose of selling a product or service in the marketplace and creating a social value.  They strive for a blended return on investment, both financial and social. Their profits are returned to the business or to a social purpose, rather than maximizing profits to shareholders.

Source: Enterprising Non-Profits  

Social Enterprise(s)   Revenue-generating non-profits (those who generate income other than through grants, donations or fundraising) and “for-profit social purpose businesses”, which are those who incorporate as for-profits but have a double (social) or triple (environmental) bottom-lines.  This does not refer to companies employing Corporate Social Responsibility.

Source: Social Innovation Generation (SiG@MaRS)

Social Enterpirse(s) are profit-seeking business whose financial objectives and environmental, ethical, and/or social objectives are broadly equivalent. Activity within the sector is driven by social missions and often by the aim to be as financially self-sufficient as is possible. The sector exists in the space where the nonprofit sector, the for-profit sector and the public sector overlap.

Source: ClearySo  

Social Enterprise: Social enterprise typically refers to non-profits or non-profit-owned subsidiaries that incorporate commercial discipline within their operations and seek to generate a surplus (e.g., profit) that is returned to the non-profit owner to support its mission.

Source: World Economic Forum: 2008 Blended Value Investing: Capital Opportunities for Social and Environmental Impact,