Social enterprises need predictable revenue, community ownership, and shared power to control their own future. Here’s how we’re doing it – and how you can too.
Threats to social purpose organizations are growing.
While the immediate threat of 25% tariffs and a trade war is temporarily paused, it’s only rational to believe that more instability and uncertainty are on the horizon.
Andrew Greer, Purppl’s Managing Director
January has been a long year eh?!
- Trump attempted to freeze US federal grants to nonprofits. It was reversed, but revealed how quickly funding can be taken away. Some of the same behaviour has been happening in Canada.
- Vancouver’s mayor wants to put a stop to supportive housing in favour of private development, deepening instability for nonprofits and the people they serve.
- Ontario’s recently announced energy plan directs billions towards big corporate projects, rather than smaller community-owned renewables that create local wealth and jobs.
- Oxfam released a report in January that showed Canada’s 65 billionaires have about $496.76B in wealth, and that number grew at $309M per day. Meanwhile, 3.8 million Canadians live below the poverty line and we’re facing record food bank usage.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They show a pattern of deliberate political and economic instability that concentrates wealth, power, and control in the hands of the few while creating precarity for the rest. If we want to build an economy that prioritizes people and planet – and Canada! – we can’t wait for governments, philanthropy, or traditional markets to do it for us.
We need predictable revenue. We need ownership. We need each other.
At Purppl, here’s what that looks like.
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Social enterprise is a strategy to survive, and thrive. We’re investing in it.
For decades, nonprofits have been stuck in cycles of restricted grants, unstable donations, and short term funding. They face limited access to capital, markets, and talent. Small businesses are in a similar situation. Meanwhile, wealth continues to concentrate in fewer hands.
Social enterprise is a path out of this trap.
“Social enterprises are businesses that sell goods or services, embed a social, cultural or environmental purpose into the business, and reinvest the majority of profits or surplus into their purpose,” says Buy Social Canada. Whether they’re incorporated as nonprofit, for-profit, or cooperative, they all have one thing in common: they earn customer revenue, reinvest in impact, and build long term sustainability.
At Purppl, we’re betting on that.
Despite uncertainty, we’re hiring three roles: Client Engagement & Success, Service Lead & EIR, and Marketing Coordinator. These roles will strengthen predictable revenue, improve service quality, and deepen our capacity to support social enterprises.
There were (and still are) moments where I question this decision. Even with steady growth of 30% per year, hiring feels risky. The uncertainty is real.
But revenue isn’t just oxygen for impact, it’s power. It gives organizations control over their own futures rather than waiting for a funding cycle or political will.
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We’re putting our money where our mission is: Community-Owned Assets
When communities own the assets they rely on, they build stability, wealth, and power for the many – not just the few.
For years, social enterprises and nonprofits have been stuck in an extractive cycle – paying rising rents, facing displacement, and struggling to build long-term financial stability. The ability to own and control assets, whether it’s real estate, businesses, or other shared infrastructure, isn’t just about financial health. It’s a question of power.
At Purppl, we’re not just talking about it; we’re working on it.
Right now, we’re supporting three projects that aim to shift real estate ownership into the hands of nonprofits and social enterprises. This is all about securing affordable office space, enabling nonmarket housing, and ensuring that nonprofits, social enterprise, and Indigenous organizations own or co-own social purpose real estate. They need mechanisms to build wealth and sustainability, just like private landowners and companies. It’s a social imperative in a world that is increasingly owned by a privileged few.
In the coming months, we expect some of these projects will be ready to offer co-ownership opportunities to community based nonprofits and social enterprises.
Ownership isn’t just an asset-building strategy. It’s an act of economic justice. The future of the social economy isn’t one where organizations struggle to survive – it’s one where they own their future.
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We’re building relationships that share power.
Economic instability isolates people (and nations!). It encourages short-term thinking. It’s designed to push us into scarcity and competition.
We’re not playing that game.
Instead, we’re leaning into solidarity. Similar to the early days of Covid, we’re reaching out to clients, partners, funders, and collaborators. We’re asking:
- How can we build revenue together?
- How can we share risk?
- How can we do this work in ways that support all of us?
The social economy is built on respectful relationships. There is no just, regenerative economy without deep collaboration. While algorithms and (some) politicians stoke division, we’re focused on building solidarity.
The path forward is collective.
The Path Forward: Predictable Revenue. Community Ownership. Shared Power.
Predictability isn’t just a financial strategy; it’s a form of resistance. In a world order that thrives on instability, securing predictable revenue through social enterprise allows impact-driven organizations to control their own future. That’s why we’re investing in our own revenue model, and supporting others to do the same. Resilience isn’t built on short-term funding cycles. It’s built on long-term sustainability.
Community ownership is power. The ability to own and control assets, whether it’s real estate, businesses, or shared infrastructure, determines who holds decision making power and who benefits from economic growth. We are actively working to co-own social purpose real estate, invest in community-owned enterprises, and strengthen the structures that keep wealth in the hands of the many, not the few.
Shared power is the goal. Ownership isn’t just about holding assets; it’s about ensuring they serve those they were meant to benefit. If we want to build a just, regenerative economy, we have to design for shared wealth, not hoarded wealth.
So, here’s a question for funders: would you fund a sales role for a nonprofit social enterprise? Would you make an investment into a social enterprise to enable them to buy an asset? Would you invest in a network role, to help the social economy connect and build shared capacity?
And for nonprofits, have you asked?
The future of social enterprise isn’t just about making social purpose organizations more financially sustainable, it’s about reshaping economic structures so they serve the many, not the few.
And we’re all in.
