A Sustainable Donation
The Charity Enterprise Fund is designed for community members who want to see their donation dollars go further and who value sustainable outcomes.
You want your money to be used effectively
You are someone who believes that money should be used effectively, whether that’s in your own day-to-day spending or when you donate to local charities.
Like you, we also want our impact to go as far as possible. We believe the most effective way to create impact is to partner with a charity to create a long-term, capacity building project.
Let us show you an example of how social enterprise can become a sustainable, revenue generating solution for charities.
Social Enterprise in Action
Hope House is a food security organization in Guelph, Ontario that operates a food bank and community farm where they grow fresh produce for their clients.
We partnered with Hope House in 2021 to launch The Better Food Company, a vision-aligned social enterprise. Fresh meals are sold using excess produce from the farm. Profits earned support the farm which enables sustainable food sharing for their clients.
In its first year, The Better Food Company earned over $20,000 in net profits. Additionally, 27% of all customers donated to Hope House at checkout, providing the charity with both a new income stream and a new donor acquisition program.
We’re bridging the gap between charity and business
The Community Company partners with our community’s most inspiring charities to create sustainable solutions. We believe in systems change work and we see donations as a social investment opportunity.
We currently have a waitlist of qualified charities that have management and board approval to launch a vision-aligned social enterprise, but they lack the startup funding to do so.
This is your opportunity to directly invest in our community’s forward-thinking charities.
This is our promise to you when you make a donation to our Fund
Donate to the Charity Enterprise Fund Now!
Click the donation option that works best for you. The details for each option are provided below.
Note: If you donate through CanadaHelps, you will need to opt-in separately for communication through this page here!
Here are some additional details if you’d like to learn more about out work
Our Social Enterprise Development Process
Phase 1: Research. Building the foundation for the Social Enterprise.
This involves stakeholder interviews, learning from the community and from leaders, creating the social business model, theory of change, idea generation, financial projections, and a report with actionable next steps. This is the deep, foundational work required before any public launch.
Phase 2: Branding. Creating the Social Enterprise’s story and identity.
This involves creating the brand’s story and narrative, understanding the why, creating the visual identity, brand assets, and a professional website. This is not simply putting a logo on a t-shirt and selling it, we’re creating the bigger picture narrative for the organization so our community can rally behind it.
Phase 3: Launch. Developing the implementation strategy to get to launch day.
This involves creating the launch strategy, long-term sustainability plan, registering the Social Enterprise, marketing, photography, videography, content creation, and the most exciting part, launch day. This is the carefully calculated step-by-step process that leads up to the grand unveil.
Replicating a Successful Model
When we partnered with Hope House to launch their social enterprise, our goal was to create a brand that shared the story of the charity’s vision. When a customer purchases a Better Food Co meal, we wanted them to understand and feel how their money was contributing to a better food system in Guelph.
Additionally, we followed the Lean Startup Model approach to business and developed an enterprise that was light on capital investment and quick to deliver profits for Hope House. We were able to iterate and learn quickly, allowing us to exceed our revenue goals for the enterprise.
We have a proven model for creating vision-aligned, sustainable social enterprises. This model, along with the three phases of social enterprise development, will be applied for all charity partners that receive startup capital through our Fund.
Schedule a Chat
We’d love to answer any questions you may have and provide you with all the details you need to confidently support our Charity Enterprise Fund.
You can click on the calendar below to schedule a phone call, a video call, or an in-person chat with Justin from The Community Company.
Justin Chan is the Founder of The Community Company and is the lead strategist for all Social Enterprise Projects. With a background in both Business Administration and Social Enterprise, he understands the complexities and importance of balancing profit and social impact.
Help us Build a Better Community
Would you rather donate to a one-off charity project or to use your donation as a social investment in a self-sustaining project?
This Fund enables you to directly support forward-thinking charities with social enterprise development. This isn’t about giving a charity a fish, it’s about equipping them with the tools to sustainably fish and become entirely self-sufficient.
Help us build a better community today by donating to our Charity Enterprise Fund.
What happens when I make a contribution to the Charity Enterprise Fund?
Here is what you can expect after making a donation to our Fund, whether you make a $10 or a $100,000 contribution.
Donate Now
Click the donation option that works best for you. The details for each option are provided below.
Note: If you donate through CanadaHelps, we will not have access to your email address to provide you with updates. You will need to opt-in separately for communication through this page here!