Article at a glance:

Helping nonprofits do business

Nonprofit organizations increasingly seek to establish business ventures supplementing the grants and donations that finance their social causes. Many of these projects, however, don't get past the idea stage, and some that do end up failing because of inadequate management skills.

The take-away

Business plan competitions for nonprofits are one way to increase the success rate. In developing such a plan, the organizations gain an understanding of the economic realities of their ventures, become aware of possible conflicts with the core mission, and attract start-up funds.