Judging Criteria for social enterprise

The best plan is the one that judges believe will generate the greatest social good subject to feasibility. Not only should the idea be attractive in terms of its potential for social value creation, the plan must be practical in terms of the likelihood of achieving success. The judges will consider the following criteria:

Concept

The concept should reflect an innovative, feasible approach to solve a serious social problem. The team should demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues it seeks to address and the economic and social drivers of the problem and its solution.

Context

The social venture plan should describe the market needs, size of opportunity, competitive landscape, potential risks and strategies for managing those risks. Special attention should be paid to the social, legal and governmental context of the problem and its solution. Regulatory, tax, and political issues may be important.

People

The team should demonstrate that it has or is able to acquire relevant skills, contacts, and expertise in order to accomplish its goals. The team should be credible in communicating the plan and its feasibility.

Social Impact

Though it is not necessary to compute quantified measures of the social impact, the team must be able to qualify the theory of change, that is, to define the impact value chain by illustrating how your business inputs, activities and outputs can generate outcomes and subsequent impact that aligned with your initial mission and goals.

Sustainability

The business model should be sustainable for the period of time consistent with achieving the desired social impact. The plan's final projected year may involve ending the business, continuing operations at a constant level, stable growth, transferring ownership and control or replicating the business in other locations.