NESsT Learning Series
Critical analysis and research based on the practical experience and lessons learned by social enterprise managers worldwide. This series includes:

- NESsT books

- NESsT Social Enterprise Country Assessments

Risky Business:

The Impacts of Merging Mission and Market

Risky Business: The Impacts of Merging Mission and Market, examines the impact -- both financial and non-financial -- of entrepreneurial activities on small social change organizations.

An important contribution to the growing debate on “social return on investment,” Risky Business uses analyses of 45 social enterprise cases from 15 countries to examine impact in terms of financial performance, mission/values, organizational culture, relations with stakeholders, etc.

Risky Business challenges many of the assumptions made about performance “measurement” and “metrics,” pointing out the unique challenges of quantifying and qualifying the financial and social impacts of social enterprise.
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Profits for Nonprofits: An Assessment of the Challenges in NGO Self-Financing

Enterprise activities are not for all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), nor are they easy for those NGOs that do venture into the marketplace. Profits for Nonprofits examines the practical challenges and obstacles in implementing self-financing. The 20 Central European NGO enterprises documented in Profits for Nonprofits have not succeeded without significant effort, risk and sacrifice. The cases illustrate that management, access to credit, conflicts between for-profit and nonprofit mission, legal, tax and regulatory issues, potential fallout and competition with for-profit small-businesses, public accountability, ethics and potential abuses are all recurring issues that the NGOs face in using self-financing strategies. However, Profits for Nonprofits illustrates that, while not the panacea, self-financing can generate income and further the mission of nonprofit parent organizations.

Profits for Nonprofits is available from NESsT in English only. For copies in other languages, click here.
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The NGO Venture Forum: Lessons in Self-Financing from the International Gathering

The NGO Venture Forum is a handy "primer" for anyone seeking to better understand the fundamental issues of enterprise activities in the nonprofit sector. In 1999, NESsT convened a worldwide group of 75 leading thinkers and practitioners to examine strategies for supporting the enterprise activities of NGOs. Developed from the official NGO Venture Forum proceedings, the book addresses the following key issues:

• how self-financing contributes to NGO sustainability;
• the unique ethical challenges of introducing profit motives into mission-driven NGOs;
• "social auditing" as a method for measuring the impact of nonprofit enterprise;
• assessing NGO capacity for self-financing;
• models of business planning for nonprofit enterprise;
• capitalization of NGO enterprises.

The NGO Venture Forum is an excellent introduction to the emerging field of entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector.
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The NGO-Business Hybrid:

Is the Private Sector the Answer?

From NESsT and the Program on Social Change and Development at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at the Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC

The concept of "organizational sustainability" for grassroots community organizations in developing countries has generated mounting interest in recent years in light of both diminishing development resources and increased expectations for Southern NGOs. Generating a sufficient source of income for NGO programmatic activities is one of the oldest and greatest conundrums for NGO leaders around the world. NGOs have become increasing dependent on project-based donor funds which limit their abilities to plan strategically and independently.

The intention of this study is to critically examine the idea of NGO "self-financing" as one component of a strategy for NGO financial sustainability. The study closely examines an international group of over 15 NGOs attempting to generate their own sources of income through commercial ventures, and sales of services or products. The intention is to identify some of the key issues and obstacles that exist in implementing self-financing approaches to supplement traditional public and private project-based donor funding.
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NESsT Social Enterprise Country Assessments

These assessments present country analyses of the development of social enterprise and self-financing activities undertaken by civil society organizations (CSOs). Each report analyzes the state of civil society overall in the country; trends in self-financing/social enterprise development; and examines specific cases of social enterprises and the opportunities and challenges they face in fulfilling their financial and social objectives. The assessments also provide the perspectives of donors and investors in the country vis-a-vis social enterprise, as well as the legal and regulatory environment that either fosters or hinders social enterprise development in the country.

All country assessments are available for FREE download in PDF format. Currently available: