Growing Social Enterprise ThinkImpact Opts to Go Commercial

ThinkImpact, the charity whose financial and organizational growing pains were outlined in a New York Times case study last week on the pros and cons of taking social enterprises commercial, will indeed metamorphose into a for-profit entity, the Times now writes.

Saul Garlick, founder of the charity that promotes small businesses in developing countries, told the paper last week that fundraising demands were crowding out ThinkImpact’s mission work. In a follow-up interview, he said the financing opportunities available to for-profit firms and differences in meeting the demands of shareholders as opposed to donors led him to change course.

“I find donors to feel owed some emotional reward that is intangible and constantly burdensome because as a nonprofit director you never know if they are really satisfied,” he said. “Investors, especially ones who believe in your vision, are pretty cut and dried about their expectations—deliver something great and do it in a way that is growing and eventually makes money.”