Collaboration and the Social Purpose Ecosystem | Embracing Cooperative Values
By Rachel Dick, Coast Capital
August 25, 2023
When Coast Capital adopted our social purpose in 2020, we did so out of recognition that social purpose is the business model the world needs in order to tackle the complex, systemic issues we face today. We also recognized that the social purpose business model is a natural evolution of the values and principles we hold as a financial cooperative, values that inspired our social purpose of Building Better Futures Together.
Credit unions and cooperatives share a strong, collective history of supporting their members, employees, and communities and of creating positive social change. And, at a time when many across the country are feeling overwhelmed and uncertain, we believe that cooperatives and credit unions who adopt a social purpose are uniquely positioned to drive the real and lasting change that society needs. They can pave the way for other companies transitioning to social purpose, demonstrating how to bring a purpose to life authentically and impactfully.
What does it mean to be a cooperative?
The International Cooperative Alliance defines a cooperative as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise”.
Cooperatives adhere to seven Cooperative Principles, which are:
Unlocking cooperative principles for social purpose
Social purpose is deeply aligned to the cooperative principles, and when we reflect on the principles as a whole, there are three that stand out.
The first is concern for community. Social purpose is an evolution of the great work cooperatives and credit unions have been engaged in throughout their history. It’s an evolution of our collective commitment to give back to our communities and a modern-day expression of our cooperative roots. But, social purpose takes the commitments we have made to our employees, communities, and society at large much further than ever before. It challenges us to put social purpose at the core of everything we do – driving every decision, strategy, product design, and stakeholder interaction – with the ambition to tackle the complex challenges our communities face today.
Our commitment to communities cannot be accomplished without the second critical principle, cooperation among cooperatives, and in the case of social purpose, cooperation among social purpose businesses. Social purpose businesses are businesses whose purpose is to create a better world and as such they are cooperative allies. Societal change doesn’t happen in isolation and no one individual or organization can drive large-scale change alone, it requires all of us. Cooperating with social purpose businesses, including supporting them to uncover and activate their purpose, increases the prospect of a flourishing future for all.
This brings us to the third principle of education, training, and information. We recently wrote a blog post on how we have engaged our employees in purpose, including the ways we have deepened understanding of purpose in general and of our unique social purpose in particular, through employee education. It is critical, however, to bring all stakeholders, including members, suppliers, business partners, and communities, along that journey. Supporting stakeholders to understand social purpose and its benefits through training and educational content helps them contribute to the organization’s social purpose and see their role both as participants in, and beneficiaries of, social purpose. It also helps grow the social purpose movement in Canada and around the world.
What you can do to advance social purpose in your organization and beyond
There are many ways to connect to the social purpose ecosystem in Canada. Engaging with the United Way BC’s Social Purpose Institute and joining their cohort community by participating in their educational programs is a great place to start. You can also check out one of their upcoming events or read their Definition of Social Purpose Business to learn more about social purpose.
You can get involved with the Canadian Purpose Economy Project whose goal is to create the enabling ecosystem to promote the growth of social purpose across Canada. Signing up for newsletters at these organizations keeps you up to date on developments within this emerging business movement.
Lastly, if you are a social purpose credit union looking to connect with other social purpose credit unions, we invite you to join the Canadian Credit Union Roundtable on Social Purpose. The Social Purpose Roundtable was recently established to support credit unions as they explore, adopt, and implement social purpose within their organizations and in their own ecosystems. Contact Rachel Dick, Senior Manager, Social Purpose Business Innovation at Coast Capital to join the Roundtable or to learn more.
