SoCo BBB selected to build social impact model

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado has received a contract from the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust and the Council of Better Business Bureaus to develop the first-ever database of social enterprise organizations and examine the viability of creating a BBB Trustmark for social impact organizations. The southern Colorado organization will partner with the Colorado Institute for Social Impact and the Quad Innovation Partnership to complete the project.

“We have been at the forefront of the social impact movement, so we are excited to receive this contract and begin to map out the sector, starting with Colorado,” Jonathan Liebert, CEO/executive director of BBBSC, said in a written statement. “The policies and framework we develop through this project could guide development of this sector across the country.”

“Partnering with the Colorado Institute and the Quad Innovation Partnership was a critical part of our proposal. Our partnership with the Colorado Institute has already involved discussions around this issue and the students participating in the Quad Innovation Partnership will provide the day-to-day work on the project,” Liebert said.  

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The first component of the project is to develop a database of social impact businesses and organizations. The database will serve as both a reference for other businesses that want to work with social impact organizations and as a method for quantifying the size of the industry.  

“Clearly there are a lot of companies and organizations committed to social impact,” said Stacey Burns, vice president of business innovation for the Colorado Institute for Social Impact. “I think we’ll all be surprised when we see just how big this sector is and how rapidly it is expected to grow over the next few years.”

The second phase of the project is to determine the viability of creating a BBB Trustmark for social impact organizations, similar to the BBB’s current program of recognizing trusted businesses.  

“Unfortunately, fraud is already showing up in this area. Businesses tell consumers they’re supporting a particular cause or organization with a percentage of their profits, but then don’t follow through on the support. The BBB is the perfect organization to help build trust in this sector by developing a process and code for organizations to become verified, social impact organizations. Consumers will know they can trust an organization if they have the BBB looking into these businesses and vetting them,” said Liebert.  

The development of the database will begin with the state of Colorado, then expand to five to 10 cities throughout the country. Once the process is finalized, the program is expected to roll out nationally. The timeframe for the first phase of the project is October to December 2018.

“The BBB of Southern Colorado was one of the first local BBB’s in the country to recognize the importance and potential of social impact businesses,” said Melanie Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust. “We expect this to become a big part of the BBB mission going forward.”