On financing

Financing for Whom?

The Trust invests exclusively in social economy enterprises, especially not-for-profit organizations and cooperatives with fewer than 200 employees.

What is a social economy enterprise?

The Trust defines a social economy enterprise as an enterprise in the commercial sector that, while having an entrepreneurial character, also pursues a social mission. These enterprises have the following attributes:

1. Their principal aim is to produce goods and services in response to economic, social, individual, and collective needs.
2. Centred on the individual, their principles and operating rules are based on: a regulatory framework aimed at ensuring democratic management practice; activities fostering the individual and collective empowerment of their members or clients; the priority of people and jobs over capital, notably in the distribution of profits and revenue;collective ownership of capital and the means of production.
3. Their contribution is assessed based on their impact on local development and communities, notably through the creation of sustainable employment, the development of new services and the improvement of people's quality of life.
4. They are either independent private enterprises with a not-for-profit organization or cooperative status, or independent projects initiated by the social economy's other components: community organizations and employment insertion enterprises. In both cases, they operate according to an entrepreneurial management philosophy.
5. Their economic viability is mainly based on independent revenue drawn from its commercial activities with private and public consumers.