the network potluck belongs to taken from: http://www.potluckcatering.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catering

Potluck Cafe taken from http://www.potluckcatering.org/cafe.html

Potluck is a good example of a social enterprise. It operates a fully professional enterprise that services corporate and non-profit clients.

It is a registered charity whose café and catering revenue is invested back into 5 community social programs. It provides a daily Meal Program with free meals for residents. It also has a Community Kitchen Program that welcomes DTES residents to learn basic cooking and nurture relationships. However, it is hard to determine whether it is creating sufficient social value. Potluck must work on increasing the availability, accessibility and choice of quality, nutritious food.

It combines the passion of a social mission with an image of business-like discipline, innovation, and determination. Its social mission is explicit and central. Through its programs, it is evident that mission-related impact is its central criterion. It is difficult to measure its social value creation through customer satisfaction.

Whether Potluck attains a long-term social return on its investment remains to be seen. It has to come up with innovative ways to ensure that their ventures will have access to resources as long as they are creating social value.

This link gives a good idea of the social entrepreneurial standards Potluck upholds.