Recent Activities

The following is a list of significant enp events and accomplishments over the last few years, you may also read about us in our annual activities Reports.

2006

• Rural Workshops: Two rural enp orientation sessions were held to test the extending of access to the enp grants program to outside the Lower Mainland and Victoria. Orientation sessions were held in Trail and Prince George. The response was so great that between the two sessions over 30 organizations attended. (Since 2006 enp has offered dozens of workshops throughout rural BC).
• Canadian SE Guide: The first edition of the Canadian Social Enterprise Guide was published by enp in February, 2006, and by June the following year enp was ordering a re-print as the interest in the book surpassed expectations. "The Guide" is a comprehensive overview of social enterprise development including case studies, organizational readiness and business planning.
• Enp's website: www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca was launched in June of 2006. In addition to information on enp's granting program the website has a calendar of events and is a valuable resource for people wanting to learn about social enterprise, find business planning resources, and keep up-to-date with what's going on in the world of social enterprise. 

2007

• Canadian SE Conference: Enp was the secretariat and host of the 2nd Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Vancouver in January 2007. Over 500 participants (60% from British Columbia) participated. With over 50 workshops, plenary sessions and an array of speakers the conference was a great success. Coast Capital Savings and Vancity Credit Union were both core sponsors of this event.
• Ask the Expert: "Ask the Expert," an online service where organizations can submit legal questions to a panel of lawyers, was introduced on the enp website. (Initially a "legal" expert service, the program was expanded in later years to include human resources and basic business questions as well).
• Learning Events: Enp began offering a series of Learning Events, beginning with a November event launching the "Ask the Expert" program. Providing a great opportunity to expand one's knowledge, share learnings and build social capital, the first enp Learning Events took place at the H.A.V.E. Culinary Training Society in Vancouver. (Learning Event topics in following years included everything from Women in Social Enterprise to the Vancouver Olympics and Social Enterprise Opportunities, to Branding, Social Media, Financial Tools and Legal Issues). 

 2008

• Enp Toronto: In partnership with the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto an enp-TO pilot was very successful. Supported by eleven initial funding partners, enp-TO had nearly 200 people attend its workshops and distributed over $100,000 in grants. (The enp-TO program continues in 2011 and is now managed by the Toronto Enterprise Fund).
• SE Summit: Enp was a co-host with ten other organizations and was the secretariat for the BC Social Enterprise Summit in Vancouver.

2009

• SE Purchasing Toolkit: Enp launched the Social Enterprise Purchasing Toolkit, an online resource to help purchasing departments in businesses, government and other organizations increase the integration of social values into purchasing decisions.
• The SE Podcast Series: Enp created a podcast series to answer the most pressing questions about how to successfully run a social enterprise. Podcast topics included (1) What is Social Enterprise?, (2) Social Enterprise Readiness, (3) Planning for Social Enterprise, (4) Financing Social Enterprise, (5) Demonstrating Value, (6) Purchasing from Social Enterprise, (7) Marketing Social Enterprise and (8) A Case Study: Common Thread.

2010

• 2nd Edition of SE Guide:  The 2nd Edition of the Canadian Social Enterprise Guide was released in the summer of 2010. By May 3, 2011, the 2000th free copy was downloaded. (That's an average of over 7 copies per day for over nine months!)
• SE Marketing Toolkit: Developed by enp and Octopus Strategies, the Social Enterprise Marketing Toolkit was designed to help social enterprises understand the fundamentals of marketing.
• SE MeetUP: Enp hosted the first ever BC Social Enterprise MeetUP in Vancouver in November. Attended by about 150 stake-holders from the Social Enterprise sector, the event was a great success.
  

 2011

• Enp Alberta: Enp assisted the Trico Charitable Foundation in establishing enp-Alberta (which is based in Calgary but serves the entire province).
• Revised Website and Launch of Learning Toolkit: Included in the revised website is the all new Social Enterprise Learning Toolkit which features a variety of learning modules for social enterprise practitioners.