Why Non-Profits Are Replicating the Startup Model

What's This?

The front desk and mural at Beespace, a non-profit incubator based in New York City.

By Matt Petronzio2014-05-05 18:12:40 UTC

The Beespace office feels spare and minimalistic, located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. Painted pipes and girders line the warehouse-like ceiling. Coworking areas and "flex spaces" scatter across the open floor plan. The small kitchen doubles as a printing area. Six large tables extend along the far wall, each with a whiteboard divider to scrawl new and exciting ideas.

The setup is conducive to a trendy, emerging startup's needs. But Beespace isn't a startup — it's a non-profit incubator that identifies and launches innovative organizations dedicated to social good. And like many companies looking for success in the digital age, it's taking cues from the tech startup world.

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Marissa Sackler, founder and president of Beespace, says the office itself is a direct borrow from the startup scene — it belonged to a friend's tech incubator before the company moved elsewhere in the city. A conversation with that same friend, in which Sackler aired her frustrations about working for early-stage non-profits, spurred the idea for Beespace.

"I loved working with non-profits, and I loved working in the social good space," she tells Mashable. "[But] I had become frustrated with the feeling that a lot was being dropped in the follow-through, that [new non-profits] didn't have the operational capacity to put a lot of their ideas into place, and that, therefore, they weren't able to achieve the scale they should have been able to. I felt there had to be a better, more comprehensive solution."

Sackler turned to the startup model for inspiration. She spent a year speaking with people in the tech world, the non-profit world and everywhere in between to help flesh out the idea for a non-profit incubator.

"From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to have this comprehensive feel, [for it] to be a three-pronged approach: the coworking space — the importance of having these groups learning and working side-by-side; the broader community that I could bring — mentorship aspects, our advisory board and our partnerships; and teaching best practices, allowing them to build the skills so that they can build out their operations and strengthen their programming," she says.

Beespace now has three "incubees," or fledgling non-profits looking to build and expand their resources: the Malala Fund, the Adventure Project and Practice Makes Perfect. Beespace gives them the physical space to work, connects them to mentors, designers, engineers, accountants, fundraising strategists and PR specialists, and provides seminars and talks from speakers across the non-profit space.

Sackler says they'll take up to six incubees at a time, each for a period of two years or until they reach six full-time staff members — whichever comes first.

"We don't run their organizations for them," she explains. "We're here to help them get the most out of their idea and their non-profit. This is a great space for them to build their teams and to take risks — to find an amazing new technology that no one else in the non-profit sector is using and to see whether that helps them scale."

So Beespace not only adopts the startup model, but also strives to incorporate tech into the non-profits' operations. Traditionally, the non-profit world is very slow to adapt to new technologies, according to Sackler. When someone innovates, everyone tries to do the same thing until it becomes a very crowded space. Think, for example, about online donations several years ago — how game-changing they were when non-profits like charity: water introduced them into the fray — compared to today.

"There isn't enough constant innovation. The space shouldn't have to be completely crowded and impossible to utilize in order for someone to take the next step. We want to see constant innovation in the same way that you see in the for-profit world, especially in the tech space," she says.

To Raheel Gauba, manager of Internet strategy at Blackbaud, a typical tech startup takes a single niche problem and attempts to solve it — "nothing more, nothing less."

“If you look at their No. 1 marketing vehicle — the website — the user experience is designed with a very sharp focus on the industry challenge, how they are solving it, how others have benefited from their solution, and how you can participate," he says.

Non-profits should streamline their websites in the same way, focusing primarily on quality of content, showcasing success stories and using compelling calls to action — “more than just a red button in the header.” The key, Gauba explains, is to be top-of-mind in the audience’s daily lives.

Then there is the "hip" factor, he says. How a non-profit presents itself online creates a powerful perception its operations and mission. "Will I get quick tidbits of very useful, visual and engaging information, or will I get boring reports with tons of content to read?" asks Gauba. "As a busy professional on the go, I prefer the former versus the latter."

That "hip factor" can apply to more established organizations, too. Nancy Lublin, CEO of DoSomething.org, one of the largest non-profits for teens and social change, shared similar frustrations with the non-profit sector as Sackler.

When she joined DoSomething in 2003, 10 years after it was founded, they had just fired 21 out of 22 people, there was $75,000 left in the bank, the organization was $250,000 in debt, and they had lost their office space.

"If you looked up 'f*cked company' in the dictionary, our logo would be there," Lublin says. "[But] it was the year after Friendster, and the year before Facebook ... and one of the things I did was say, 'Look, there are faster, better and cheaper ways to reach young people now. We don't need to go through schools, ... print lots of curricula and ship them all over the country. It's called the Internet.'"

Lublin suggested they shut down the local offices around the country, and she was almost fired for it. But she told the board to trust her. "Betting on the Internet turned out to be a good move," she says.

DoSomething currently has 50 full-time employees and 2.5 million members, and the team is on track to run 250 campaigns this year. (Last year, they ran 26.)

Nancy Lublin is seen onstage at the Do Something Awards on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011 in Los Angeles.

Image: Matt Sayles/Associated Press

Under Lublin's leadership, DoSomething has borrowed a lot more from the tech startup model, proving that more established non-profits can still make the shift. Lublin adopted her hiring rules from DJ Patil, who was the first chief data scientist at LinkedIn, and DoSomething is the only not-for-profit she knows that doesn't look at prospective employees' educational backgrounds — a characteristic inspired by Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal, and the startup world in general.

"I want to say we've taken everything [from the for-profit world]. We tend to operate a lot more like tech startups. But to just say, 'Oh, I've hired lots of young people and we move fast and break things' — that doesn't mean you're a tech startup," she says.

Adapting to change is what's key. DoSomething's CTO is part of the management team, and one-third of the entire staff writes code. "All of these people are used to building things that either break or are outdated in three to six months. So the very notion of change is familiar and comfortable to them," Lublin says.

Back at Beespace, the notion of change is present. Now about six months into the incubation process at Beespace, the Adventure Project, which creates jobs in developing countries by partnering with local organizations, has already developed new practices and started executing fresh ideas.

Adventure Project cofounder Becky Straw says she worked closely with Beespace's director of fundraising and engagement to launch the non-profit's new web platform, which connects donors directly to the entrepreneurs they've supported. After a year, donors will receive the story of the individual they supported — "showcasing their impact in action."

"I am always looking at the tech sector for ideas and inspiration," Straw says. "I believe now, more than ever, non-profits need to run lean and constantly iterate. It’s not enough to have a great product, but you have to know how to sell it, how to engage donors and design your organization for rapid scale. To reach our goals, we have to think like a tech company."

Within three months of starting at Beespace, the Adventure Project gained the same number of donors it took the team to collect during its entire previous fiscal year. All three incubees have made new hires, reworked their web designs and expanded their networks.

"We want to make sure that we're a part of their growth moving forward," Sackler says. "We hope to have six great success stories. It will be really interesting to see the data — what it looks like to track them through our space, and then beyond."

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Topics: Business, Mashable Must Reads, non-profits, Social Good, Startups, U.S.