Business Plan for Non Profit
Business plans are necessary in any organization that is serious about being competitive and becoming successful. It helps to show investors the roadmap of how your company will operate and achieve success. Non-profits are no exception when creating a business plan.
Despite the fact that you are not going to make any money or if you do make money it’s going to be re-invested back into the business to have a much greater impact on the world. You are going to still need a business plan. As a social entrepreneur the process is also the same when creating a business plan.
You are still going to need funding from investors who you must convince to believe in your vision which also includes the public. You have to make certain that your business plan is organized so that when you introduce it to your investors.
They will see that you are not just being a social entrepreneur for the media attention and get persons to say how nice you are while running a very poor non-profit business. You need to show them that you are serious about your mission. Show them that you are in it for the long term and they will see results over a certain period of time.
Creating a non-profit business plan is simpler than a for-profit one. Despite that you shouldn’t see that as a reason to not put your best effort into it. Despite the fact that it’s much simpler it’s much harder to get funding. As a result of that you have to make certain that yours are properly organized.
Below you can see a list of important items you must include in your non-profit business plan.
Products and services
In this section of your business plan you are going to talk about your program or programs you want to put in place to make an impact whether in a community, country or the world. You are going to tell them why you are so passionate about why these programs will work.
Let them know your company’s goals for the short and long term. Give them a detailed layout of your product execution plan.
Market analysis
You are going to analyze the area where you going to enter in. Explain to them who are your competitors. These are going to be other non-profits organizations doing the same thing that you are doing.
Look at their strengths, weaknesses and how you can capitalize on their weaknesses to be a better non-profit organization.
At the end of the day non-profits are still a business and when running a business being competitive is necessary. So there is no reason why you can’t be aggressive every now and then to be successful.
For example suppose that you are going in the public school arena. Look at the number of schools that need help such as funding or a better structure.
Next look at who are already doing it and what you can do to get better than them to have more impact on more schools in a particular country. Then scale it to the world if it’s part of your vision and you’re ambitious enough.
Management team
Show them who are going to be involved in your organization on a daily basis. Give information on your team members, stake holders etc. Explain the different role of each and how they will add value to your company.
Financial plan
This is probably one of the most important areas of your plan because you are going to show them how you are planning to use their money.
You must ensure that this area is not messed up. Investors will look at this area to see how good you are at handling their money. Also they will want to make certain that their money is being spent properly.
In summary these are the main sections you must include in your non-profit business plan. It’s also pretty simple to create. You could even use this as your main plan as well. By Just keeping it simple and get to the main points.