Businesses Generate Money and Results for Nonprofit Organizations

When Good Works Make Good Sense: Social Purpose Business Case Studiesdescribes four businesses developed by nonprofit organizations to bring in revenue and promote their missions. For example, one of the projects profiled is a secondhand store operated by a residential treatment center for women who have suffered from domestic violence, mental illness, or substance abuse. Women in the program develop salesmanship and time-management skills by working in the store. The revenue generated from the thrift shop provides nearly 20 percent of the center’s budget. Other groups profiled include an organization that trains youths to create and sell works of art; a residential rehabilitation program for former drug or alcohol addicts that operates several businesses, including a restaurant, which generate $17-million in annual revenue; and a nonprofit temporary-employee program that provides job training, counseling, and placements for hard-to-employ people. This report, sponsored by the MetLife Foundation, in New York, offers tips learned by groups administering moneymaking ventures, as well as a brief overview of how each project was formed, its business strategy and structure, operations, and outcomes.

Publisher: Seedco, 915 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10010; (212) 473-0255; info@seedco.org; http://www.seedco.org; 32 pages; $7.50 plus $3 shipping; free for dowload from Seedco’s Web page.