Sales for non-profit organizations

The law gives NGOs the right to conduct business that supports their missions. In other words, to be traders in order to obtain the necessary funds and achieve their social goals. However, most NGOs do not recognize themselves as traders and have difficulty selling products and services. At the same time, many colleagues share that it is the income from economic activity that gives them the greatest freedom to follow their own priorities and missions, regardless of whether they carry out economic activity as a non-profit legal entity or as a social enterprise.

The challenges come from the need to apply typical business practices and work in direct competition with other businesses. At the same time, the paramount nature of the social goal of any organization and the related need to maintain the best interests of its beneficiaries, compliance with ethical rules and standards, are the reason to follow not very typical market approaches and not to seek maximum profit. NGOs invest their business income in programs and initiatives aimed at achieving the goals of the organization, and do not invest or distribute profits. Is it possible then to be effective in sales at all?

Do we have to be trade organizations or do we have to find our uniqueness and character in order to be competitive and efficient? What makes people prefer causes to conventional commercial goods and services?

We gather the experience of mission organizations and those of business to answer this and other questions.

In this conversation we will explore together issues such as:

• Why do NGOs sell? What are the benefits and challenges?
• What does it take to sell effectively?
• Prerequisites for success
• Joining forces - resources and opportunities to make us stronger and more efficient

Participants:

Veselina Panayotova, www.veselinapanayotova.com

Vesselina has been working in the corporate sector with fast-moving goods for over 15 years in senior management positions. He knows business practices and sales well. She has led teams of 200+ people and has worked with an annual turnover of over 250+ million. leva. He has gained experience from daily work with entrepreneurs.

He slowed down the fast turnovers 2 years ago and did consulting business for a women's team. She believes that every mother has the right to balance healthily between work and children. And because he knows what it's like to have a cause to work for, he also supports social entrepreneurs. " Social entrepreneurs have the right to reveal the beauty of their work with the stories behind them "

Pavleta Aleksieva , Bulgarian Center for Non-Profit Law and DarPazar

Pavleta has been part of the BCNL team for over 10 years. Her legal education has given her the opportunity to help many non-profit organizations cope with a variety of development challenges. Pavleta is one of the Center's experts who invests time, effort and expertise in helping NGOs see the potential in developing mission-related business and finding entrepreneurial ways to achieve lasting change for the people and causes they are fighting for. . This is also part of the mission of the Bulgarian Center for Non-Profit Law - to help people come together and happen their ideas and initiatives in a sustainable way. In 2019, the Center officially launched DarPazar - an online platform for products and services with the cause of Bulgarian social enterprises. " Its creation was provoked by our desire at the Center to give an easy tool to start-up social enterprises to start selling their services and products right from the start. Our experience in the Entrepreneurship Program for Civil Society Organizations, which we have been doing for ten years, has shown us that starting to sell is one of the biggest challenges for civil society organizations that have chosen to develop social entrepreneurship , ”says Pavleta.

Teodora Ivanova-Valeva,Impact Drive

Her professional life has long been associated with project management and organizational development, as well as the design and management of grant schemes and programs. He works for a short time in public authorities and private management consulting, but finds passion and meaning in working in the non-governmental sector and people working for causes. He is very interested in how to be effective, influential and successful in their missions. The activity and support of the organizations is related to participation in projects, mentoring, assistance in creating fundraising and business plans, organizational, communication and management strategies, lectures, consulting and others.