May 2, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out): Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits
by Andy Robinson
This guide is designed to help charities build money-making operations, as well as examine the ethical issues and concerns faced by nonprofit organizations embarking on entrepreneurial missions.
“Many activists, community organizers, and nonprofit managers think of their program work as separate from their fund raising, and they find the idea of combining mission and money to be strange, if not downright offensive,” writes Andy Robinson, a consultant to nonprofit organizations and a contributor to The Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
Mr. Robinson urges charities to be careful in distingushing between commerce and capitalism, and offers examples of 24 nonprofit organizations that “demonstrate the variety of ways progressive groups can participate in commerce and still be true to their values.”
One case study used in the book, titled “Capitalism with a Conscience,” describes Global Exchange, a San Francisco human-rights group that organizes “reality tours” that take travelers to places like Iran and Northern Ireland to learn about international conflict from a local perspective. The author explains the business components of the operation, such as how it generates income from selling crafts and other items from overseas, and how it meets its ethical goals by supporting travel that emphasizes ecotourism and education.
The book also shows organizations how to draft a business plan and secure start-up funds, and provides worksheets to steer the process. It gives suggestions for managing revenue and considering corporate partnerships, and takes a look at some failed nonprofit enterprises in the chapter “When Bad Ventures Happen to Good Groups.”
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (415) 433-1740 or (800) 956-7739; fax (415) 433-0499 or (800) 605-2665; http://www.josseybass.com; 229 pages; $25.95; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-6216-3.
