Venture Forth!: The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization [Paperback]

Rolfe Larson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

This is the most complete step-by-step guide on nonprofit business ventures. Building on the experience of dozens of organizations, this handbook gives you a time-tested approach for finding, testing, and launching a successful nonprofit business venture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A clear, no-buts way to negotiate the minefields in the nonprofit world. It’s sincere, smart, and helpful." -- Paul Newman actor, philanthropist, & founder of Newman’s Own

"A very logical, thorough, and practical approach to business development." -- Andy Horsnell, Authenticy Consulting LLC, Regina, SK, Canada

"A well-lit path to success in this thorough, step-by-step workbook. I'll be recommending it to my clients!" -- Peter Brinckerhoff, founder, Corporate Alternatives, Inc., leading management consultant

"Rolfe Larson's new workbook encourages the entrepreneurial spirit while providing the rigorous reality checks necessary for sound business practices." -- Gary Stern, Stern International, Minneapolis, MN

"This book is a must have resource that we will use for all our nonprofit courses on this topic!" -- Karen Simmons, President, Chester County Community Foundation, West Chester, PA

Venture Forth! offers a clear, no-buts way to negotiate the minefields in the nonprofit world. It's sincere, smart, and helpful. -- Endorsement from Paul Newman, actor, philanthropist, and founder of Newman's Own

From the Publisher

B>How to find, test, and launch a successful nonprofit venture Venture Forth! The Essential Guide to Starting a Moneymaking Business in Your Nonprofit Organization is the most complete step-by-step guide on the topic. Building on the experience of many organizations, this handbook gives you a time-tested approach for finding, testing, and launching a successful nonprofit business venture. Whether your organization is large or small, the book's seven steps guide you through the entire process-from idea to complete business plan. Examples, tips, timelines, and reproducible worksheets help you

* Assess the strengths and weaknesses of venture ideas to find the most promising ones

* Determine which ideas fit your mission, resources, and skills

* Make solid decisions based on data rather than impressions

* Prepare a complete-and reassuring-financial analysis showing your breakeven point and future profitability

* Write a compelling, detailed business plan and get it approved * Get ready to start the new business! Nonprofits with established ventures will find these steps useful for evaluating, expanding, or improving their business. Even if you don't intend to earn a dime in venture income, you can use the book's process to improve the financial health of your current programs. Lower your risk and increase your chance of success with Venture Forth! and start generating earned-income while reducing your dependence on grants.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Fieldstone Alliance (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940069245
• ISBN-13: 978-0940069244
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rolfe Larson has more than twenty years of experience managing and advising organizations in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Prior to starting RLA in 1995, Rolfe Larson was an executive for almost ten years at Minnesota Public Radio, where his responsibilities included identifying, researching, and launching new business ventures. Several of the ventures he helped launch generated significant value to MPR. Business areas include music marketing, product licensing, mail order catalogs, publishing, and commercial broadcast media.

For more than a dozen years, Rolfe was a Professor of Marketing at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, at the College of Business, where he taught courses in marketing, business planning and social entrepreneurship. Rolfe has served on the boards of the Social Enterprise Alliance, The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, and Mississippi Market. Rolfe holds a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Yale University, with an emphasis in marketing and finance.

He helped found and moderate the npEnterprise Forum, the global, 7500 subscriber listserv exclusively focused on social enterprise/earned income strategies. It is the official listserv partner of the Social Enterprise Alliance. See www.npEnterprise.net for more information or to subscribe.

Rolfe writes weekly blogs on business planning ( http://bit.ly/aMto3p ) and on social enterprise ( http://bit.ly/becVcW ).

Since 1995, Rolfe Larson Associates has been helping organizations develop entrepreneurial strategies to increase mission impact. We provide guidance and direction on social enterprise strategies such as selling goods and services, licensing, and business partnerships. Our services include strategic planning, market research, feasibility analysis and business planning. More information at www.RolfeLarson.com or contact Rolfe at [e-mail] .