Most of the times we discuss business ideas that are aimed at getting returns on investment. These are the kind of businesses you would call for-profit business ideas. In the same vein it is also possible to start a non-profit business and that is the focus of this article. Non-profit business ideas are based on the desire to impact the world to become a better place. Making profit is nowhere near the primary goal when we are talking about non-profit businesses. Let us start by looking at some of the key elements of a non-profit entity or business.
Key Elements Of A Non Profit Entity
Already we have pointed out why one would start a non-profit business i.e. the goal to positively impact the world. Though you can get the money to cater for your basic needs and all this type of business offers no returns on investment in the form of profits. Essentially entrepreneurs in this space get to enjoy excellent remuneration or compensation packages as benefits. Funding for the business comes in the form of donations from various sources. This aspect calls upon you to come up with a comprehensive business proposal that donors can buy into. Here are some non-profit business ideas for your consideration:
Education Interventions
There are a number of marginalized young people when it comes to access to proper education. In most countries there are not enough schools, not enough teaching personnel and not enough education material such as books amongst others. To address this one can identify a community they want to impact with respect to improving access to education. The intended approaches that one can choose are plenty. For instance, you can focus on mobilizing school supplies such as stationery, textbooks, backpacks and so on. You can opt to source funding to cater for school fees for underprivileged children. The other approach can be to mobilize resources for the refurbishment or the actual construction of school buildings such as classroom blocks. Alternatively you can work towards having and running mobile schools.
Health Interventions
Just like education a huge population does not have health cover or access to basic health care services. Especially people in rural areas are most affected due to various reasons. In some cases there are no clinics or hospitals available to cater for the community. In some places such facilities are there but are not easily accessible due to long distances or rough terrains. Lack of adequate staffing is also another challenge in some scenarios. Unaffordability of health care services due to low income levels can also be a problem for most people. These and more are challenges that you can seek to address by starting a health interventions non-profit business.
Charity Auction Services
This is a fun and exciting business if you manage to roll it out smoothly. There are many individuals and even corporates who are willing to donate a wide range of things for charitable purposes. What you do is to approach them or to simply make calls for donations. Then for all non-monetary items you assemble them together to auction them. The proceeds from the auction will then be used for charitable purposes. You will essentially be the auctioneer so that you do have to pay for someone to do it. This can be a full-time line of business because there are always people willing to give up something for charity.
Fundraising Services
The crux here is to engage in activities that raise money that can be used to impact communities. The possible approaches are several but some of them are as follows. You can setup a business that identifies needs in communities and come up with fundraising activities to assist in that regard. Alternatively you can put together a fundraising portfolio in which you offer your services to charity organizations looking to raise funds for certain initiatives.
Basic CommodityHand-outs
There are many people in society that are homeless, disabled, or underprivileged due to a wide array of reasons. You can start a non-profit business where you setup fixed or mobile facilities which you use to give hand-outs of hampers consisting of basic commodities such as foods, toiletries, clothing and the like. Think of the concept of a homeless shelter; this is the idea but with a variation in approach to cater for more people as opposed to just homeless ones only. So you can mobilize the things or funds to acquire the things that you would hand-out to those in dire need of them. To make this effective you would have to come up with a way to get the details of the needy beforehand so that those in real need actually benefit.
Environmental Management
There are a lot of things that can be done to positively impact the environment. Areas of focus can be animals, plants, trees, land, water bodies and so on. You can dedicate your efforts in the form of a non-profit business that champions environmental conservation. For instance, there are animals that are now on the brink of extinction – you can solely focus on averting that. Deforestation is also another growing challenge in many places which you can work against through initiatives such as tree planting. Land reclamation can be needed in areas where illegal mining activities are degrading the environment – that can be another avenue.
There are infinite non-profit business ideas that you can start anywhere in the world. The world is riddled with so many challenges that need to be addressed so there is always a need somewhere. Fortunately, there are also many individuals and corporates who are ever-willing to make donations towards causes that benefit the community. The success of such businesses thrives on you being a person of integrity, principles and empathy amongst other attributes.
