Products & Services

Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) Social Enterprise Verification

This global verification was developed to be simple and affordable, support regional and national networks, and expand market access and opportunities for social enterprises around the world.

If you are unsure if your organisation meets the standards to apply for SEWF Social Enterprise Verification, please take the self-assessment on 'Good Market' to find out.

The verification is for any enterprise that puts people and planet first and meets the following 5 standards:

1. Purpose: Exists to solace a social and/or environmental problem
2. Operations: Prioritises purpose, people and planet over profit in operational and strategic decisions
3. Revenue: Has a self-sustaining revenue model.
4. Use of surplus: Reinvests the majority of any surplus towards its purpose.
5. Structure: Chooses legal structures and financing that protect and lock-in purpose in the long

Are you interested in finding out more?

Visit the SEWF Social Enterprise Verification page.

One of the main challenges for Mainstream Enterprises is to identify ‘trade-ready’ Social Enterprises. Equally, it is difficult for Social Enterprises to find and identify Mainstream Enterprises who want to work with social procurement. The Buy Social Europe B2B movement is working to create greater transparency by building an European database to help overcome this challenge.  

Whilst this is not yet available, ongoing matchmaking and facilitation activities are taking place within the movement to identify, contact and bring together interested parties. The ultimate goal is to create a database for both Mainstream Enterprises and Social Entrepreneurs to use to be able to find compatible business partners.

Meet the Buyer events are a great opportunity to bring buyers and suppliers together in a set of pitch sessions and panels. 

Led by true social procurement pioneers, Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), Buy Social Europe B2B have created a 'Meet the Buyer Guide' Builds on years of experience and multiple events hosted by SEUK and other consortium partners and provides a set of steps for a successful event. Included in the guide are real life examples of different event formats, and successful events hosted by Social Enterprise NL (SENL) in the Netherlands, Smart Kolektiv in Serbia and more.

Meet The Buyer - Best Practice Guide

This Guide will give you a first understanding of what social procurement is and if it is relevant and strategic to your organisation. In it, we cover three main chapters:

• Understanding Social Procurement
• Getting Started
• Scaling Social Procurement

There, you will hear best practices and success stories from leading organisations in social procurement and their partnerships with inspiring social entrepreneurs across 23 countries in Europe.

Fill in this short form to access the guide here.