Forget the Stuff and Give a Gift that Matters
The holiday season is all about giving — giving gifts, giving thanks and giving back. If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship and would like to help others realize their own potential to succeed as a business owner, you may want to consider supporting an entrepreneurial nonprofit this holiday. Your contribution could help youth in under-resourced communities develop entrepreneurship and career planning skills, fund social entrepreneurs around the world or help small business owners through micro-financing loans.
8 Entrepreneurial Non-Profits Worth Giving To This Season
Encouraging Youth in Entrepreneurship
The Possible Project
The Possible Project is an afterschool program that helps students in the Greater Boston area develop personal and professional skills through entrepreneurship education. The hands-on experience and individual career planning pushes students to challenge themselves and achieve — no matter their circumstances. For the last four years, almost all of TPP’s students have graduated high school and been accepted into college.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: Donate any amount to the Possible Project and they will use your generous gift to empower under-resourced students in Greater Boston while providing them with a safe place to learn and grow. If you live in the Greater Boston area you can also volunteer your time to the Possible Project. Donate to the Possible Project!
Lemonade Day teaches kids how to start and run their own business while helping them raise money for a charity of their choice. Through running their own lemonade stand, children learn more about the value of money and how it works in the real world. Lemonade Day started in 2007 and has reached over one-million kids in three different countries!
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: For as little as $10 you can help one child realize “they have the power to take charge of their future, create their own opportunities, and make their own success.” Lemonade Day accepts individual donations and offers larger impact sponsorship opportunities. As a donor, you have the option to give to whichever city you choose. Donate to Lemonade Day!
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship aims to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and build startup skills in youth from under-resourced communities. By utilizing a combination of in-school courses and out-of-school resources, like Biz Camp, NFTE provides at-risk youth with the confidence and education to succeed.. Their success is evident, with one in four NFTE graduates starting at least one business and NFTE alumni boasting 50 percent higher earnings than their peers.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: NFTE accepts one time and recurring donations. You can also opt to volunteer with NFTE as a coach, advisor, guest speaker, host or advisor. Donate to NFTE!
Social and High-Impact Entrepreneurship
Ashoka believes that everyone can be a changemaker to work on the social issues that are facing the world today. They support social entrepreneurs around the globe who are challenging social problems in their communities.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: Skip the Hulu subscription this year and donate to Ashoka instead. As they say, a $100 donation is about the cost of a Hulu subscription. You can donate once or sustain your donation with regular giving. Donate to Ashoka!
Endeavor seeks out and invests in the world’s most talented entrepreneurs with the biggest potential for impact. Endeavor aims to build economic growth through job creation and fostering innovation. Over 1.5 million high-quality jobs have been created from the Endeavor Entrepreneurs, as well as $17 billion in generated revenue by their Entrepreneurs in 2017. You can read some of the inspiring stories on how Endeavor is supporting entrepreneurs from around the world here.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: You can donate a one-time contribution to help Endeavor continue their work to support high-impact entrepreneurs. Donate to Endeavor!
Micro-Financing
Kiva is a crowdfunding loan distributor that takes lending contributions of $25 or more to add to a larger loan amount for borrowers. Their borrowers range from artisans and farmers to students and single parents. Kiva helps fund small businesses, educational opportunities and health-related needs. All loans are vetted through an underwriting process and Kiva boasts a 97 percent repayment rate on their loans. Each week Kiva lends an average of $2.5 million.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season:
- Give a Kiva Holiday Card! Donate on behalf of someone else and let them choose where the money is lent. Give a Kiva Card!
- Lend $25 or more to help people around the globe build better futures for themselves and their families. Make a Loan!
Accion is a nonprofit community lender that supports new small businesses that are not yet eligible for traditional bank loans. Accion works with small business owners to understand their needs. Through their network of bank partners, government agencies, and local businesses they then help these small business owners “overcome every obstacle standing between them and their dream of owning a thriving business.”
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: You can donate to the Accion in your region or state by making a one time or recurring contribution. Donate to Accion!
Women and Minorities
The Association of Women’s Business Centers is a nonprofit that works to help women succeed in business through training, mentoring, business development, and financing opportunities. They have over 100 business centers across the country providing women with the skills to ensure their economic stability. The AWBC has helped more than 145,000 women each year achieve their business goals.
How You Can Help This Holiday Season: The AWBC accepts donations of any amount to help support their mission of securing economic justice and entrepreneurial opportunities for women. Donate to AWBC!
Entrepreneurship offers freedom and financial opportunity that can change lives. At Franchise Business Review, we know that entrepreneurs come from all walks of life — from varying backgrounds, countries, economic status and for that matter generations. Support and guidance can be critical to getting started as an entrepreneur no matter where you’re from or how much experience you have. It’s one of the reasons franchising has been so successful and why the organizations listed above exist.
If you are compelled to give back this holiday we thank you for your contribution to the entrepreneurial community. If you yourself happen to be an aspiring entrepreneur who is looking for a franchise opportunity you may be interested in learning more about the top-rated franchises that make giving an integral part of their brand.
Happy Holidays!
