January 11, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
BOOKS
Generating and Sustaining Nonprofit Earned Income: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Strategies
Edited by Sharon M. Oster, Cynthia W. Massarsky, and Samantha L. Beinhacker, this collection of essays offers guidance on developing a business plan, raising capital, and managing commercial ventures.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103; (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 352 pages; $48; ISBN 0-7879-7238-7.
Venture Forth: The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization
Written by Rolfe Larson, this book lays out steps to help nonprofit groups start businesses, and shows them how to use skills and techniques from the corporate world.
Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance, 60 Plato Boulevard East, Suite 150, Saint Paul, Minn. 55107; (800) 274-6024 or (651) 556-4509; fax (651) 556-4517; books@FieldstoneAlliance.org; http://www.fieldstonealliance.org; 272 pages; $34.95; ISBN 978-0-940069-24-4.
ORGANIZATIONS
National Center for Social Entrepreneurs
The National Center for Social Entrepreneurs provides training and consulting services to charities that want to develop social enterprises.
Social Enterprise Alliance
The Social Enterprise Alliance is a national membership group for nonprofit organizations that are interested in starting businesses and other income-producing activities.
PUBLICATIONS
Published 10 times a year, this online publication features profiles of nonprofit business ventures and articles that provide step-by-step information about income-producing efforts.
Annual subscriptions cost $53 for individuals and $62 for institutions.
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Published by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business, this quarterly generally includes articles about business ventures with a social purpose.
Annual subscriptions cost $39.95.
SOFTWARE AND ONLINE RESOURCES
Business Plan ProSocial Enterprise Edition
Developed by the Social Enterprise Alliance in collaboration with Palo Alto Software, in Eugene, Ore., this software helps nonprofit organizations develop a business plan for a commercial venture.
The cost of the software is $199 for nonprofit organizations and $189 for members of the Social Enterprise Alliance.
This Web site features a series of worksheets and questionnaires that charities fill in, answering questions about their idea for an income-generating venture. Worksheets designed to help charities identify potential business opportunities are available free on the site.
The cost for using the Web site to conduct a feasibility study is $150, and $200 to develop a business plan.
More than 3,600 people discuss nonprofit money-making efforts on this e-mail forum.
