Canadian Women's Foundation - Investment Readiness Self-Assessment Tool
         For the purpose of this document when we indicate “women”, we mean those who identify as women, girls, trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit peoples. 
         This  investment readiness self assessment tool is adapted for educational purposes from sources including: Canadian Social Enterprise Guide, the S4ES Investment Readiness online tool, and 
         the Innoweave Social Investment Readiness checklist. 
         Organization Name:
         Canadian Women's Foundation IRP Cohort:             Please check:                Cohort 1)           Cohort 2)           Cohort 3)    or N/A
         Name of person flling in this assessment:
         Position/role with organization:
         We consulted with our team in filling in this assessment                       Yes           No                                                                     If yes, who from your team and their roles?
                                                                                                                                                                             Please score the                    Notes on how to 
                                                                                                                                                                             statements in column A  improve this 
                                                                                                                                                                             with a number between  area
                                                                                                                                                                             0 and 4.  Your score will 
                                                                                                                                                                             tabulate automatically.
                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                             0 = Not applicable
                                                                                                                                                                             1 = Not an asset/ not 
                                                                                                                                                                             started as yet
                                     Our Mission and Organization (18 indicators)                                                                                            2 = Fair/significant 
                                                                                                                                                                             development still needed
                                                                                                                                                                             3 = Good /competent
                                                                                                                                                                             4 = Exceptional /a 
                                                                                                                                                                             significant strength  
         Our organization has a clear and compelling social mission. 
         Our organization understands the root causes of the problem we’re addressing. 
         Our organization can describe the change we want to make in the world and the specific outcomes we want to achieve. 
         Our organization’s governance and leadership are representative of the communities we serve. 
         Our organization values equity, diversity and inclusion and has policies in place to ensure they are core to our work. 
         Our organization recognizes the barriers faced by marginalized people in our community in our program design. (e.g. childcare, 
         accessibility) 
         Our organization engages the communities we serve in program design and implementation. 
        Our organization has a demonstrated  commitment to learning and innovation; we encourage staff to explore opportunities and 
        take risks. 
        Our organization has experience assessing the feasibility of initiatives before launching them.
        Our organization has invested our own time, resources, and funds to develop our social enterprise idea. (e.g. reserve funds, staff 
        time, etc.).
        Our Board of Directors is supportive of business development and social finance investment.
        Our organization has an updated strategic plan that reflects social enterprise/earned revenue initiatives as a key strategy. 
        Our organization has a track record for financial sustainability and good management. 
        Our organization has diverse sources of revenue to support our work. 
        Our organization has successfully managed lines of credit, loans, or equity investments in the past.
        Our organization has the space and equipment needed to implement our social enterprise idea. 
        Our organization has secured the support of key external stakeholders and partners to develop our social enterprise/venture. 
        Our organization has experience responding to requests for proposals for contracts or government tenders. 
                                                                                                                        Total Score out of  72                              0
                                                                                                                                               Please score the              Notes on how to 
                                                                                                                                               statements in column A  improve this 
                                                                                                                                               with a number between  area 
                                                                                                                                               0 and 4.  Your score will 
                                                                                                                                               tabulate automatically.
                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                               0 = Not applicable
                                                                                                                                               1 = Not an asset/ not 
                                                                                                                                               started as yet
                                                                                                                                               2 = Fair/significant 
                           Our Social Enterprise/Venture and Markets (18 indicators)                                                           development still needed
                                                                                                                                               3 = Good /competent
                                                                                                                                               4 = Exceptional /a 
                                                                                                                                               significant strength  
        Our social enterprise/venture is a good fit with our organization’s assets and strengths. 
        We have a team in place to champion, resource and develop the social enterprise/venture. 
        Our team has the right blend of confidence, skills and experience to deliver business success. 
        We have planned ahead to enable full participation of our staff and program participants. 
        We have sought the input of women, girls, trans, Two-Spirit and non-binary and 2LGBTQIA+ people as critical  in developing our 
        business plan.
        We have a viable business model for our social enterprise/venture.
        We can articulate the primary elements of our business model with ease.
        Our business model demonstrates a balance between our social mission and our revenue-generation goals. 
        We have adopted a legal or organizational structure for our social enterprise/venture that enables us to deliver on our intended 
        business model. 
        We can clearly describe what makes our offering distinctive and valuable to our market/users. 
        We know our potential business allies and/or competitors. 
        We have tested our product or service on at least a small scale. 
        We are clear that there is demand for our product or service. 
        We have a system in place for seeking out and acting on customer/user feedback. 
        We have a pricing strategy that is acceptable to the market we want to reach.
        We have access to the external business and technical supports we need to develop, launch, and/or operate our social 
        enterprise/venture. 
        We are connected to business networks associated with our social enterprise/venture.
        We have capacity and systems in place for our social enterprise/venture to respond to contracts or government tenders.
                                                                                                                        Total Score out of  72                              0
                                                                                                                                               Please score the              Notes on how to 
                                                                                                                                               statements in column A  improve this 
                                                                                                                                               with a number between  area 
                                                                                                                                               0 and 4.  Your score will 
                                                                                                                                               tabulate automatically.
                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                               0 = Not applicable
                                                                                                                                               1 = Not an asset/ not 
                                                                                                                                               started as yet
                                                                                                                                               2 = Fair/significant 
                               Our Finance and Money Management (14 indicators)                                                                development still needed
                                                                                                                                               3 = Good /competent
                                                                                                                                               4 = Exceptional /a 
                                                                                                                                               significant strength  
        We have clear and specific financial and business goals for our social enterprise/venture. 
        We have realistic projections of how our product or service will generate revenue. 
        We have a good understanding and precise estimates of the costs of doing business. 
        We can show we’ll have enough money to cover our costs and become financially sustainable. 
        We know how much money we’ll need to invest (internally and from external sources) to achieve our intended impact. 
        We are aware of sources of funds that can support the launch and/or growth of our social enterprise/venture. 
        We are clear about which social financing options would best support our social enterprise/venture. 
        We have cultivated a strong network of investors with the potential to support our our social enterprise/venture. 
        We have a credible business plan to present to investors. 
        We know how we would use money received from external investors to achieve our goals. 
        We have the financial skills and know how to manage a social finance investment.
        Our business and organization are credit worthy; that is, we can demonstrate our capacity to take on debt or manage equity. 
        We have methods (financial, legal) in place to onboard external investments. 
        We know whether and when to scale and/or replicate our model. 
                                                                                                                        Total Score out of  56                              0
                                                                                                                                               Please score the              Notes on how to 
                                                                                                                                               statements in column A  improve this 
                                                                                                                                               with a number between  area
                                                                                                                                               0 and 4.  Your score will 
                                                                                                                                               tabulate automatically.
                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                               0 = Not applicable
                                                                                                                                               1 = Not an asset/ not 
                                                                                                                                               started as yet
                                                                                                                                               2 = Fair/significant 
                                              Our Story, Our Impact (5 indicators)                                                             development still needed
                                                                                                                                               3 = Good /competent
                                                                                                                                               4 = Exceptional /a 
                                                                                                                                               significant strength  
        We have clearly articulated social, cultural, and/or environmental outcomes for our social enterprise/venture and strategies to 
        achieve those outcomes. 
        We have data collection systems that meet our need to know and show our progress and impacts, and tell our story. 
        We regularly analyse the information we collect to understand the difference we’re making. 
        We routinely use the information we collect to adjust our business strategies as needed.
        We clearly and persuasively communicate our impact to key stakeholders.
                                                                                                                        Total Score out of  20                              0
                                                                                                      TOTAL SCORE out of 220                                                0
        How to assess your scores (see below):