Atira Women’s Society is a nonprofit organization that provides housing, advocacy and support to women and their children who are experiencing the impact of violence. In 2002 Atira launched a social enterprise, Atira Property Management (APM), which provides a range of financial, administrative, and physical property management services to residential and commercial property owners throughout the Vancouver area. A mission-driven business, all of the profits are donated to the Women’s Resource Society for the purpose of reducing reliance on government grants and improving the long-term sustainability of the Society.
Key takeaways:
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70% of businesses fail during the first 5 years of operation. Atira took over 20 years to actually turn a profit. With this in mind, you need to be willing to take calculated risks and also be 100% committed to your organization.
- When the potential for your non-profit organization to become a social enterprise arises, it might make sense to plan to have more than one revenue stream. According to the Report “Earned Income-Generating Activities Among Canadian Charities” published in September 2013, 77% of social enterprises in Canada engage in more than two revenue activities.