Non-profit organizations exist to generate a benefit to society and they do not distribute dividends. A Benefit Corporation is not a non-profit organization: it is owned by shareholders and it continues generate and distribute profits.
A B Corp is a for profit organization that meet verified standards of social and environmental impact through the B Impact Assessment, commit to transparency requirements and to be legally accountable to all its stakeholders.
The length of the certification and verification process varies based on a company’s size and complexity. Usually, for small and medium sized companies it last about 6 to 8 months. Large multinationals, companies with many related entities, or companies operating in controversial industries should expect a longer verification process.
Certified B Corporations pay an annual certification fee, which licenses them to use intellectual property like the Certified B Corp logo. This fee varies depending on the size and structure of each company. The BIA is completely free, even if all companies submitting their BIA for verification for the first time are subject to submission fee of € 250. Once certified, B Corps have to pay every year a certification fee, calculated on the company’s total revenue.
B Lab is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 in the United States. They created, and awards, the B Corporation certification for companies that voluntarily meet the highest standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability, and performance.
The B Corp community range from sole proprietors to publicly-traded companies. The majority of all B Corps are small- to medium-sized businesses. However, also larger enterprises have joined the movement.
To have the most recent updates about the number and industries of the B Corp movement, visit https://bcorporation.eu/country_partner/italy/
With the exception of come controversial circumstances, any established for-profit company may pursue the B Corp Certification. There is no minimum or maximum size or revenue. However, certain companies, such as those under a year old, those with related entities, or large multinational and public companies, have additional considerations and requirements.
All Certified B Corps share their BIA overall scores on their public websites on B Lab Global’s website. Public companies and their subsidiaries have extra transparency requirements.
The BIA is divided into 5 different sections: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. The specific questions of the different categories depend on each company’s track, sector, size, and geography of the business. Each question is assigned a relative weighting based on how difficult the practice is to implement and the directness of the indicator in assessing a positive impact on workers, communities, environment, and/or customers, as determined by B Lab’s independent Standards Advisory Council.
Becoming a B Corp is a very important a recognized status of social and environmental commitment. If you want more information, just send as an email and we will be right next to you!