Starting Up: Nonprofits Launch Social Sidelines

"...A new generation of changemakers is emerging that sees for-profit ventures as intrinsically more scalable than nonprofit entities." -- John Elkington, co-author of The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World     

...Consider Rubicon Programs, a Richmond, Calif., nonprofit that provides jobs, housing, and life skills to poverty-stricken, formerly incarcerated and disabled individuals. The organization, which was founded in 1973, has started two businesses and helped more than 40,000 individuals find jobs and live independently... [and] helped Rubicon build 200 units of affordable housing and operate mental health and workforce services in a dozen cities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area ... 

 Thinking outside the box?  Now is the time to disregard the box, and start thinking creatively and practically. Nonprofits are in a great position to create small enterprises (tax-free, with low break-even), take limited risks, and create jobs.