Against the background of a link between religion and corporate social responsibility evidenced in research in the business, management and ethics fields, this paper explores the legal dimension of ‘corporate purpose’ in organisations with a religious influence. By looking at the legal form, governing documentation and B-Corp certification status of a sample of organisations with a religious influence which pursue goals that do not (or do not solely) relate to profit we address the relevance of these interventions to the pursuit of corporate purpose. Drawing on the findings of our empirical study and literature review, we argue that corporate purpose can be pursued effectively without recourse to alternative corporate forms and without articulation in governing documentation. We contend further that B-Corp certification is a framework which can support purpose-driven companies to confidently pursue goals other than profit and attract socially responsible investors as well as committed employees and customers. To render the certification process more accessible and mitigate the risk of it being used as a tactic for greenwashing, we call for more resources to be deployed to support companies achieve certification and for sanctions to be introduced to enforce standards.
European Business Law Review