Operating a Business
Many nonprofits, eager to get out from under the ceaseless search for donations, dream of creating a profit-making sideline that will provide a regular stream of income to finance their main charitable mission. This may be a possibility for you but going that route requires considerable planning and business savvy. These sites will help you on your way.
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The site for the Social Entrepreneurship program in the School of Business at the University of Alberta points out that the concept of social entrepreneurship is not just about nonprofits starting businesses but also about businesses starting to meet social needs. The site contains a full discussion of the concept and many examples of it in operation.University of Alberta Canadian Centre for Social Entrepreneurship -
This fairly detailed article by John Pepin covers the pros and cons of starting a business to make money for a charity and how to do this successfully.Charity Village -
If you have been thinking of developing a business which will produce profits to support your programs, there is a wealth of information on "social enterprise" from The Social Enterprise Alliance.The npEnterprise Forum -
This is a series of articles from the monthly magazine of The Grantsmanship Center in the U.S. See especially:"The challenges of becoming a social purpose enterprise", "Famous last words of failed social entrepreneurs." and "Generating income from customers and clients"The Grantsmanship Center