A conceptual business model created in part to help defray the costs associated with operating a charitable organization. In recent years it has become clear that many nonprofits are required to jump thru multiple hoops to achieve financial stability. Once they are able to evolve to the point at which they are operating with a positive cash flow even more challenges are encountered. Gaining control over financial responsibilities is often made impossible due to legislation, grants and funding requirements as well as desperately needed State and Federal needed support which has diminished greatly since 2002.
A charity, nonprofit or 501c3 are organizations designed to help those less fortunate. By being forced to manipulate and navigate a never ending cluster of red tape and grant writing criteria an alarming rate of these organizations are forced to close their doors for good. While researching these staggering numbers I found that by combining the moral and ethical Corporate Social responsibility of a nonprofit with the revenue generating opportunities of a streamlined S-Corporation one could conceivably create a contribution vehicle more effective than any ever conceived. Welcome to the “Profit for Charity” business model!
We started a company with the name What RU Nutz and filed as an S-Corp in January 2009. Our mission is to grow our revenues by selling high end apparel using a variety of monikers. IronNutz, Life is Nutz, What RU Nutz and TriNutz are our existing lines with more planned for the near future! We have taken this unique approach to marketing and have coined it "Inductive Marketing" based upon this methodology. In traditional business, a company produces a product, brings it to market and slowly niches it out via demographics, median income statistics and market share. We have done just the opposite. We started with the niche market of triathletes. We know from our research that the median income of the Ironman triathlete is $122,000 and triathlon is currently the fastest growing sport in the world. With this knowledge in hand we set out to develop a name for this line of apparel and ultimately, a product.
Our founders are Ironman triathletes and compete in Ironman events throughout the United States. When one considers the undertaking of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then a full 26.2 mile marathon all in one day they often respond with "That's Nutz!"...So, we developed the IronNutz line for triathletes. Our line is progressing nicely and we are coming out with a wide variety of items to satisfy the broad tastes and needs of these athletes. Some might say this is ass-backwards, we say, yes it is...its Nutz...but it’s working. Now comes the charitable contributions part.
A portion of all profits will go directly to six smaller charities spread throughout the US. As a startup we set our goal at 10% which is quite aggressive considering we’re starting out with nothing. As we sell our gear, we will advertise the six charities on our tags so the exposure gets into the marketplace for them as well as for us. If we get a large order from a respectable retailer then we could be looking at 250,000 units. That’s 250,000 mailings and advertisements that cost our charities nothing! Then when someone wears our garments they are advertising to friends and family our logos and telling folks how they helped six charities by purchasing one item. It feels good to help those less fortunate and if you can get a nice article of clothing in return then it's a win / win as far as we are concerned.
In the current economy people are putting on blinders and retreating into their homes to focus on themselves, which is understandable. Bill collectors are calling, jobs are being lost, families are being forced out of their homes and worse....Fewer and fewer people are willing to open a checkbook and write a check to a charity simply to get a receipt good towards a minute tax break months away. Our mission still requests a contribution but we reward that contribution with a shirt, sweatshirt, polo, wind breaker etc. with the new statement of reality written across it--"Life is Nutz..." "Be What U R”!
