Writing A Business Plan:
Sample Business Plan for NonProfit Organizations

Your free sample business plan for nonprofit organizations covers a wide range of business types, from ballet schools to zoological gardens.  

Key Consideration

Unlike other businesses, yours is not concerned with profit. But it is very concerned with service. Service to a specified clientele is a given in all nonprofit organizations.

Before taking one step further, define who will benefit from your non profit organization. School children? Laid off workers? Immigrants? Whatever that group is, that is what you need to quantify in your business plan. This free sample business plan for nonprofit organizations will help you do that.

For the purposes of this discussion, let's assume that we are planning a museum for our area. We will be expanding from a tiny one room museum into a modern, 100,000 square foot facility. While the museum will get some government support, the bulk of the funding will come from private sources.

Who Will This Museum Serve?

Make a list of all the populations that will benefit from the new museum:

• school children;
• artists;
• adults who enjoy art;
• the entire cultural community of the area, including musicians, playwrights, book authors,
• and all manner of craftspeople;
• the merchants near the new facility;
• the business climate of the area;

Then make a list of all the organizations/entities that serve these populations, such as:

• parents;
• school board;
• art schools;
• universities and colleges;
• theaters and their patrons;
• the chamber of commerce;
• every trade organization in the area;
• etc. -- it's a long list!

Use this second list as your base of funding sources. A lot of these sources cannot give money directly, but they can certainly help you. For instance:

• Ask the PTAs to sponsor fundraisers;
• Ask school children to have cookie sales and art sales;
• Ask art schools to provide "preview" nights at their facilities, and provide you with a list of their sponsors;
• Ask theaters for a list of their sponsors;
• Ask the chamber of commerce to sponsor fundraisers and give you access to their members;
• Go to every organization of any kind in your area that will talk with you.

Then search through a solid grants directory for large organizational funding. The fact that you are looking so extensively locally will serve you well with the large charities.



The free sample business plan for nonprofit organizations assumes that you will address the needs of each individual group in your plan. Quantify it. How many hundreds of thousands of people will this museum touch? How many millions of tourist dollars will it bring into the community?  

Strongest Advantage

Your strongest advantage may be the tax deduction you can offer. It may be the cultural enhancement to the area. Pinpoint it. Focus on it.

Strongest Disadvantage

There are so many organizations vying for funding that it is often difficult to be heard over the din. Having a business plan ready, as outlined here in your free sample business plan for nonprofit organizations, will place you head and shoulders above the others.

Overcoming the Disadvantages With Your Sample Business Plan for Nonprofit Organizations

Use solid statistics to back up your claims, and put those stats into charts that are readily comprehensible.

One of the most respected sources for financial comparative information and demographic information is BizMiner.

Look for the Industry search box and enter "organization".

You will see a list of a number of different types of cultural and civic organizations, including art schools, ceramic school, music and drama schools, botanical gardens and museums.

On the page that appears, choose the type of nonprofit that is most like yours, and you can order both a Financial Analysis and a Marketing Research Report on this type of company. These reports will be invaluable to you as you develop your free sample business plan for nonprofit organizations.

Prove that you have the marketing background and skill to make the nonprofit successful.

Here it is really is WHO you know, much more than WHAT you know. Create a strong advisory board of community members. Not only can they help you with locating funders, but just having their names on your letterhead will go a long way to getting introductions.

Grant organizations also like seeing a strong management group. One person just doesn't do it. Even if one person can actually run the nonprofit, it takes a board of respected people to keep an eye on it. Don't ever try to go it alone.

Your Online Presence in Addition to Your Sample Business Plan for Nonprofit Organizations

Flash and dash isn't your cup of tea. But having an online presence, a site that will demonstrate what you are doing, and how far along you are, can be immensely helpful. See Online Business Plans for an idea or two on how to accomplish this.

Flexibility: The Keystone to Your Sample Business Plan for Nonprofit Organizations

More than any other type of business plan, yours needs to demonstrate flexibility. You may be presenting to a PTA group in the morning, the chamber of commerce in the afternoon, and a soiree of benefactors in the evening. Each group needs a presentation tailed especially to its focus.

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