NonprofitEye

Follow-up to Dec. 9th post on Social Enterprises I admit it, I have an unabashed love for Harvard Business Review! Why? Because I love a well constructed argument, because I love to see nonprofit issues explored with laser-focus, because I'm a nerd, because, because. Alright already, judge for yourself. Back in 2005, they published an article " Should Nonprofits Seek Profits? ". For only six dollars you can download a reprint of the article for your Executive Director (or your organizations biggest proponent of launching a for-profit business venture, maybe someone on your Board???). In case the title isn't enticing enough, here's the description they offer: Nonprofits increasingly feel compelled to launch earned income ventures--not only to appear more disciplined and businesslike to stakeholders but also to reduce their reliance on fundraising. There's plenty of hype about the value of earned income ventures in the nonprofit world, but such proje...

Went to a Garden Party: Social Enterprise, Earned Income, or Profit by Pam Ashlund Los Angeles, CA Dec 4-6 Attended a three day workshop at the Grantsmanship Center this week. The topic? “ Earned Income Strategies ”. Although I couldn’t begin to summarize the three days of info in one post, I think we are all familiar with the risks of income strategies: Lose money, damage reputation, hurt morale Mission Drift - Get successful and: lose track of your mission Funders move on (think you don’t need them anymore) Become vulnerable to attack on the unfair competition front And of course… the dreaded Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) My take-away's from the meeting: Any idea would not succeed without a motivated champion of the venture Don’t confuse “earned” with “unrelated” Proceeding on ventures without clear goals is a recipe for failure (corollary: starting without a business plan is “flying without a net” The best nonprofit success stories involve a blending of the purpose...