Where can I find examples of business plans for a nonprofit organization?

Try using some of the following resources to find examples of business plans for a nonprofit organization.

• The Free Management Library includes a section on Business Planning (for nonprofits or for-profits).

• Entrepreneur.com offers some information on the differences between a nonprofit and traditional business plan.

• Alter, Sutia Kim. "Business Planning for Social Enterprises." Grantsmanship Center Magazine 46 (Spring 2002) p. 21-4. How to create a business plan for a nonprofit organization.

• Alter, Sutia Kim. Managing the Double Bottom Line: A Business Planning Guide for Social Enterprises. Washington, DC: Save the Children, 2001. A workbook for practitioners, consultants, and staff who want to construct business plans for social enterprise efforts. Contains numerous worksheets, guides, tips, and suggestions for completing and evaluating the process.

• McKeever, Mike. How to Write a Business Plan. 6th ed. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 2002.

• Robinson, Andy. "Business Planning for Enterprising Nonprofits." Grassroots Fundraising Journal 21 (July-August 2002) p. 11-5. Excerpted from Robinson's book Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out).

• Robinson, Andy. Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out): Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2002. Robinson discusses the growing importance of social entrepreneurship in the nonprofit sector and identifies specific steps to help an organization generate more money from its programs, including how to: create an "entrepreneurial culture" within the organization; brainstorm and evaluate potential earned income projects; develop and use a business plan; raise enough money to get started; and successfully market its goods and services.

For other books and articles, try searching our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's bibliographic database, for books and articles. You could start by searching on the keyword "business plan*" (with the asterisk but without the quotation marks).

Please see our "How to Search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature" for hints on how to conduct the most efficient search.

Many of the books and articles found through CNL can be located in Center Libraries and some Cooperating Collections. It is best to call ahead to verify a specific library's holdings. All articles, but not books, can be obtained through interlibrary loan at your local Cooperating Collection.

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