Business Ventures as Earned Income
The development of for-profit business enterprise may offer nonprofit byway organizations a new source of revenue. However, starting a business venture is no small task. At minimum, to start such a venture, a byway organization must have strong internal capacity that includes an individual dedicated to the new business enterprise, a business plan for the new enterprise, and the financial health to underwrite the launch.
Byway organizations interested in taking on the challenge of developing for-profit business ventures will find assistance from the Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures at the Yale School of Management.
In “Profits for Non-profits?,” Brian Walsh looks at how nonprofits use for-profit enterprises to support the nonprofit mission. He cautions that two of the biggest barriers to becoming successful with a for-profit enterprise are securing start-up funds and having the business expertise. He suggests some questions to ask before beginning and some helpful resources.
One of the resources Walsh suggests is entering a business plan competition. The National Business Plan Competition for Nonprofit Organizations provides nonprofit organizations with the opportunity for grants and pro bono business consulting regarding how to launch a profit-making venture.
Resources:
The following resources have been identified by byway representatives for consideration; no endorsement is implied.
Community Wealth Ventures, Inc. – information about venture philanthropy and nonprofit business ventures
Generating and Sustaining NonProfit Earned Income: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Strategies , Yale School of Management-The Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures by Sharon M. Oster (Editor), Cynthia W. Massarsky (Editor), Samantha L. Beinhacker (Editor), with a forward by Bill Bradley; 325 pages; April 2004; Jossey-Bass, ISBN: 0-7879-7238-X
Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures at the Yale School of Management
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