Finance needs of social purpose organizations in rural communities

The Community Futures Network of Canada (CFNC) has secured funding through the Government of Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, to conduct research into the Social Finance needs of Social Purpose organizations in rural communities.

Through discussions with our provincial and regional partners, the CFNC has noted a few limitations in the data collected by Community Futures Organizations (CFOs) at the local and provincial level such as the ability to identify social purpose organizations from the total number of clients/organizations that our CFOs work with, as well as the ability to then drive down to identify marginalized groups who represent social purpose organizations. The research approved is intended to understand why CFOs are not funding more social purpose organizations and what gaps or challenges exist in supporting these organizations (related to providing access to capital and business support services).

Here is the definition of social purpose organizations that we consider in this survey. A social purpose organization can be a charity, nonprofit, co-operative, or forprofit social enterprise. In all cases, a social purpose organization is advancing a social, cultural or environmental mission.