Social Business Match Program (SBMP)
Recipient Eligibility Guidelines
1) Social Business
Social businesses are businesses that have legally declared a social corporate purpose and require that their directors and officers continuously consider that purpose alongside of pursuing profit for owners. Venn accepts applications from any type of business, regardless of its current corporate form. By closing, however, a recipient must meet this definition in at least one of the following ways:
By incorporating as a Public Benefit Corporation, Public Benefit LLC, or similar corporate form; OR
By achieving B-Corp certification through B-Lab; OR
By making basic adjustments to the governing documents of another corporate form for businesses.
We recognize that the concept of “social business” may be new to you, so please reach out with any questions you might have.
2) Geography
The PRI recipient must be incorporated in, headquartered in, or primarily impacting Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or one of the 23 native nations that share the same geography.
3) IMPACT
The social business recipient must be either (a) owned by, led by, or primarily impacting people from under-represented communities, specifically women, BIPOC and other minorities, the disabled, and those identifying as LGBTQ; or (b) otherwise offer a uniquely compelling strategic value proposition to the development of the region’s social enterprise field.
PRI recipients are also asked to created a logic model, which is a tool that communicates the venture’s recipe for impact. It includes inputs (ingredients), activities (what you do with those ingredients), outputs (evidence of activity completion), and outcomes (what results from the activities).
4) Finances
By closing, the PRI recipient must have and be regularly using a double-entry accounting system such as QuickBooks. We highly encourage applicants to have their accounting system in good working order before applying for a PRI, but it is not a formal requirement for application. To be eligible for the SBMP, at the time of application, the PRI recipients will not have earned $500,000 in revenue over any consecutive 12-month period.
5) Governance
By closing, the PRI recipient typically will be required to have a governing board with at least three members that is meeting at least quarterly. You do not need to have a governing board at the time of application. Feel free to apply with whatever governance and/or advisory board you have in place. We are open to discussing the particulars of your situation to find the right approach. We just ask that you understand that strong governance is important for us in this initiative.
6) PRI Charitable Purpose
In order to make a PRI to a social business, Venn needs to justify that the PRI is advancing its IRS charitable purpose. Not every social business will meet this criteria because not every potential social corporate purpose overlaps with the IRS definition of charitable. However, it is Venn’s responsibility to evaluate this when reviewing your application materials. Determining whether the PRI will advance an IRS charitable purpose is dependent on the unique facts and circumstances of each PRI. We encourage all interested entrepreneurs to apply. For an initial sense of how the IRS defines a charitable / exempt purpose, read more here.
