Apply for the Mark

11 per cent of the UK adult population (5.2 million people) are regular consumers of ethical products and services, up from eight per cent in 2003. These consumers look to purchase ethical products and services every month. (Source: GfK NOP, 2007)

Why apply?

Your organisation should apply for the Social Enterprise Mark (if it can meet the qualification criteria) because it brings business benefits. The Social Enterprise Mark provides your customer with a credible way of identifying that you are a social enterprise and understanding what this means. Whether your customers are individuals, public sector procurers or other businesses – this Mark will give you a competitive edge. The Social Enterprise Mark will help you create:

Customer awareness – it offers you the opportunity to gain widespread recognition of the social or environmental benefits of purchasing from your organisation
Customer confidence – all applications are assessed against a set of published criteria and are signed off by an independent panel, so customers will be assured that you are an authentic social enterprise

The Social Enterprise Mark is wide-ranging – so it doesn’t matter whether you produce recycled paper, run a community café or create employment opportunities for disadvantaged people, the same logo applies to all social enterprises. This means it will become increasingly visible in the market place. In South West England alone, there are more than 1800 eligible social enterprises, with national estimates as high as 50,000. National demand for the Social Enterprise Mark is very high so visibility of the Mark should grow quickly.

Well known social enterprises such as Devon Doctors, Cosmic, Eden Project and The Co-operative Group South & West are already signed up to use the Mark.

Tim Smit, Chief Executive of the Eden Project said:

”I really welcome the Social Enterprise Mark as a first step to better business. We should celebrate the start of something so beneficial for customers and social enterprise suppliers.”

And Julie Harris from a smaller social enterprise called Cosmic said:

“The Social Enterprise Mark is a way to promote our work and our business model so that people and businesses fully understand what they are buying, and buying into – top quality services with added social benefit.”

If you become a Social Enterprise Mark holder, you will have access to:

Boardroom style meetings. Highly tuned networking opportunities, taking the debate between social enterprise leaders to a new level. Key themes will be around leadership development, collaboration and quality.
Behind the scenes brokering of strategic alliances of like-minded social enterprises with the potential to collaborate. Also brokering to other support services and training opportunities.

Particular emphasis will be placed on improving practice by social enterprises around evidencing social impact. Social enterprises using the Mark will be provided with inspiration, tools and some support to encourage improvements in this area.

How to apply

Before applying for the Social Enterprise Mark please carefully read the Qualifying Criteria. If you would like to discuss your organisation's eligibility for the Mark, do get in contact with the Social Enterprise Mark Impact and Assessment Manager, Sue Bladon, e: suebladon@rise-sw.co.uk

To apply for the Social Enterprise Mark you can either use the Online Application Form or request an Application Pack from RISE, e: katl@rise-sw.co.uk. The Application Pack includes full information on the Social Enterprise Mark criteria, fees, the application form and detailed guidance.

These documents can also be downloaded here:

Application Form
Annual Fees
Qualification Criteria

If you would like any advice or support in completing your application please contact Sue Bladon, e: suebladon@rise-sw.co.uk

The Social Enterprise Mark Criteria

Organisations that can apply for the Social Enterprise Mark must be established social enterprises that are able to demonstrate their wider social or environmental impact.

The criteria for the Social Enterprise Mark are built around:

Clear social or environmental aims and achievements
Showing profits and assets are used to support these aims
Protecting these in the way they are governed
Trading levels
Legal status and constitution

Costs

Based on social enterprise principles the Social Enterprise Mark will, in time become financially sustainable, funded by annual fees and sponsors. The Social Enterprise Mark recognises the diversity of the sector so the annual licence fees have been set to enable Social Enterprises of all sizes to take advantage of the Mark - view the Annual Fees.

The process

Applicant submits application form and supporting documents to RISE - acknowledged electronically within 3 working days.
Internal Assessment by Impact & Assessment Manager - within 15 working days from receipt of application.
External validation of Assessment decision by consumer facing Independent Panel - within 6 weeks from receipt of application.
Notification of decision - within 5 working days of Panel decision.
We anticipate that, for straightforward applications, the whole process should take between 4 - 8 weeks.

Should any queries arise during the course of the process, we will discuss them with you before the application proceeds to the next phase.