For-profit ventures help nonprofits shore up the funding they need to maintain and expand their programs

By Abny Santicola

While Achieve Consulting is directly related to Achievement Centers for Children’s mission, if the high-ropes course starts to drive significant dollars, it might be considered unrelated business income — something the organization might have to consider down the road.

Heather Peeler, managing director at Community Wealth Ventures, a consultancy that helps nonprofit organizations become more self-sustaining through social-enterprise ventures, says that based on a recent survey of more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations, for those with social enterprises, close to 70 percent of the ventures are structured as divisions or departments within the nonprofits. But when the products or services offered are unrelated to the mission, they’re often established as for-profit subsidiaries.