Building community in your area? Check out the newly-launched Community Organizers Handbook! Everything you need to start and grow a NetSquared Local group or any other community-powered program.
NetSquared is an initiative ofTechSoup
NetSquared enables social benefit organizations to leverage the tools of the social web.
Business for profit, profit for purpose, purpose for people
A business working in what's regarded as nonprofit territory gets some strange reactions, incomprehension that you're doing stuff with your own funds rather than someone elses.
Whether anyone else here is in similar circunstances, I don't know but there are two most common. "You're doing this stuff and you're a business, you must be a liar and a crook" more amusing the response when in Russia "You want to create businesses for total strangers, you must be crazy, or a communist"
Well I hope we're not taken as liars and crooks, the rest I'm more ambivalent about.
- Jeff Mowatt's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Subscribe
NetSquared Newsletters:
>>Subscribe to NetSquared News and other email updates.
NetSquared Community Blog:
>> Subscribe to the Community Blog RSS feed.
>> Subscribe to the Community Blog comments RSS feed.
Business for profit
I liked the catchy title. Don't get upset from the fact that a business that is working at a nonprofit territory gets some strange reactions, it's just the way it is.
Agreed
Jeff-
I'm in the same boat with the organization I started, CoolPeopleCare. We thought long and hard about the for-profit vs. nonprofit model, and ultimately decided to be a 'business' that helps nonprofits.
We have felt freedom, especially in regards to raising and spending money.
www.coolpeoplecare.org
Operating freedom
Hi A good point. I don't know how nonprofits are constrained in the US, but in the UK for instance though we may gain approval for our advocacy work from nonprofits, they can't openly support our campaigning, if they may later benefit from the fruit of our efforts.
BTW I'll check out your site now. Links on here don't always work, there tends to be a space char added to the end.
Jeff
I think the growing numbers
I think the growing numbers of social entrepreneurs may change this point of view over time. My firm is a professional services provider (marketing & communications) for many non-profits and cause-driven companies, but we're a little different than most in that we set up a non-profit wing of our business to help the non-profits that cannot afford our services get their message out. So on one side of the house is a traditional creative services/marketing agency (we're the first to admit that we are not a cheap shop, but the results, quality and advice are valued by our clients) and the other side is a non-profit doing similar work for npo's that our Board reviews and votes on each quarter. Personally, I'm still learning about the non-profit space. I come from a Fortune 500 marketing background, so I have a hard time understanding why non-profits can't create enough value to generate massive amounts of funds. I know there's a lot of competition for donor dollars, but people are emotional beings and most non-profits have the lock on emotional connections. It seems like it's just a matter of reach and transparency. If donors see a measurable return on their contributions, I have to believe they will continue to give within their means. What are your thoughts on how this relates to applying for-profit business thought to the non-profit space?
For profit in the nonprofit space
Nick,
In the context of service provision, for me this is just a question of offering a discounted service rate to nonprofit customers, which none has taken up incidentally. Otherwise I just do it for nothing donating my social capital which happens frequently
We'd made the point back in 1996 that business could be applied to social objects provided the articles defined such a purpose and the community interest company in the UK now is an illustration.
We don't ask for donations. it's our profit to do with as we see fit. In our case it's deployed toward activism and leveraging development aid for other business. The latest project in Ukraine, for instance proposes a broadband network with profit going to childcare reform bypassing the emotive concept completely by just operation social business.
Jeff