Social Finance Census

As a joint project of the Ontario Nonprofit Network and the Social Venture Exchange, the Social Finance Census is the first survey to take a look at what’s happening on the ground in this province, across social ventures in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.
This report’s all-new data on Social Ventures in Ontario lays the foundation to better identify some trends in the nonprofit sector. For example, of the 196 nonprofits surveyed, ninety – almost half – are currently engaged in social enterprise, and of those not engaged, 32% are thinking about starting a social enterprise in the next two years. This information speaks to many of the changes and challenges facing the nonprofit sector as we look towards 2011.
The Executive Summary gives an overview of these issues, and the full Social Finance Census Report 2010 details the data. ONN will also be releasing follow-up summary reports on key findings, for use by the sector as we build relations with stakeholders, move to diversify our funding bases, and plan to meet and expand mission in the coming years.

While social enterprise activities will likely never be able to fully replace the need for government grants and charitable dollars to fund certain core activities of a nonprofit, such strategies can allow organizations to provide employment, training, and products and/or services directly to the constituency they seek to serve, resulting in a more dynamic and inclusive social change strategy for the entire organization.

For making this report possible, thanks to ONN sponsors: the Law Foundation of Ontario and the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI); and SVX sponsors: Social Innovation Generation (SiG) at MaRS, the TMX Group Inc., Causeway Social Finance, and the Government of Ontario.