"This is our first stab at what will become a much broader effort in years to come. Our thinking: It's no longer realistic or credible to imply that non-profits are the only institutions that have meaningful social impact. As we wrote in last year's Social Capitalist Awards package, 'business changes the world at every moment, in myriad ways, for good and ill. Decisions in boardrooms or on factory floors set in motion both staggering progress and far-reaching disasters'"The assumption that only not-for-profit initiatives can be social enterprises has always been a bad heuristic. Due to the fact that there are no easy and convenient indicators to assess social impact, the easiest way out used to be the simplification 'If they don't want to make money, then they're probably in the game for the social good'. That thinking has two fundamental flaws: Firstly, it overlooks that non-monetary goals may be decidedly different from social good (say foreign policy issues in development initiatives). Secondly and more importantly, it excludes for-profit initiatives not because of their (lack of) social impact, but for convenience: Just because not-for-profits are presumably in the game for the social good does not mean that for-profits are not in the game for social good and only after profits.
This year, Fastcompany puts the onus of proof on the companies themselves, and asks for quantifiable results, both not-for-profits and for-profits. They still seem to be a bit suspicious about their own courage to include for-profits:
... we're looking for are companies whose pursuit of positive social impact is explicit--who embrace their responsibility for constructive social change on equal terms as their responsibility for financial success; and who link social mission with business strategy. Companies should be able to articulate that mission and strategy, and be able to quantify the results.But by and large, that is a big step ahead. Social Entrepreneurs have blurred the borders of the private sector and charities, and there is no stepping back. And we shouldn't be too sad.
