OUR MODEL         OUR WHY         FAQs

How it works

The Virtueconomy Model

 
the virtueconomy model
 

Virtueconomy is where commerce, innovation and impact intersect.  We work with small businesses, creative professionals, and nonprofits to all help uplift each other and drive nonprofit impact. Buy virtue to transform the way we change the world.

1. SHOP

You shop the Virtue Collective featuring products from our partner businesses.

2. FUEL

A portion of Virtue Collective product sales goes to the Virtueconomy to fuel creative services for a designated nonprofit.

3. CREATE

Our "Highv" of talented professionals create innovative solutions to transform the nonprofit - providing them with leg-ups, rather than handouts.    

4. SHARE

Nonprofits are able to grow through innovation and share its impact with the community.   

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What drives us

OUR WHY

The Problem

Compared to for-profit businesses, nonprofits face significant double standards when it comes to spending on overhead needs such as compensation, advertising and marketing, and IT. Most donors want their donations going directly to the cause and as a result, have a visceral aversion to nonprofits spending on overhead. However, these investments are what will allow nonprofits to move beyond their current cycle of starvation, make a greater impact and succeed in the long-term.

Sadly, the 'Overhead Myth' is crippling the nonprofit sector, stagnating innovation and destroying growth potential. It seems counterintuitive that the very organizations that have altruistically committed themselves to making the world a better place, are often constrained from doing so! As the saying goes, "put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others." How can we expect our changemakers to do what they do best if they're constantly feeling limited?

Dan Pallotta (below) offers an enlightening look at the damage caused by judging charities by their overhead ratio. The overarching metric of success should be about doing the most good and having the greatest impact, not having the lowest expenses.

The Solution

What is the solution to end the nonprofit starvation cycle? First, we must rethink the way we support changemakers and invest in the causes we care about. To reform we must be more informed.

Think of what nonprofits could achieve if they were free to invest in creative marketing to reach and attract more supporters. Free to invest in innovative new ways to fundraise. Free to invest in freshening up their branding, creating a mobile-friendly website, or establishing a more optimized online donation process. Free to invest in improving feelings of fulfillment, preventing "compassion fatigue," and decreasing burnout rates that plague workers and lead to high turnover rates. No successful for-profit business would dare forgo investments in their staff, their marketing efforts, or their IT infrastructure. Why do we expect or allow nonprofits to?! It is clear that if nonprofits invest in themselves, it would free up their time and energy to do what they do best.

This gave rise to Virtueconomy, a unique shared-value model that uplifts and empowers the changemakers of the world. Best of all, this is fueled by the collective consciousness of businesses and consumers, who together make decisions that can liberate the nonprofit industry from the nonprofit starvation cycle, create jobs within the sector, and change it for good.

To lean on an old adage: Rather than giving nonprofits a fish to feed their cause for a day, let’s together teach and help them to fish, so they can feed their cause for a lifetime.

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FAQs

GENERAL

MODEL

WOMEN

MATCHING

BUSINESSES (VIRTUE CO.)

NONPROFITS (VIRTUE ORG.)

PIVOTAL SERVICES (HIGHV)

Question

What is Virtueconomy?

ANSWER

Virtueconomy is transforming the way we approach making a difference by helping break the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle. We achieve this using a new economic model driven by virtue to grow businesses, create jobs, and provide pivotal services for nonprofits. Virtueconomy connects conscious consumers with businesses to give the nonprofit industry a boost of creative freedom, critical services and innovation.

Shop with our partner businesses and they will contribute a portion of sales to the Virtueconomy to support an aligned nonprofit partner. Virtueconomy then transforms the revenue into much-needed bespoke services for the nonprofit, which allows each organization to make greater impact and invest in their long-term growth.

Virtueconomy is a shared-value solution uplifting the people and organizations who are changing the world.

Read about our WHY here.

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Question

Are you implying that direct donations are bad?

Answer

We are definitely not looking to discourage donations. They are the lifeblood of most nonprofit organizations, and without this generous financial support they truly could not function. Instead, we are challenging all of us to rethink the ways in which we can make a difference. By investing in nonprofits themselves, we are uplifting the uplifters – allowing them to be stronger and more successful at what they do best. As we know, burnout in the nonprofit industry is at an all-time high. Our goal is to change the survival mindset that the Overhead Myth has inadvertently forced upon a majority of the nonprofit industry, and convert it to one that sees nonprofits invest in their long-term sustainability.

We encourage you to continue supporting these wonderful causes while also being appreciative of the realistic costs and needs of operating an effective nonprofit. Let’s focus on the impact that they’re generating, not on their overhead ratio.

Read about our WHY here.

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Question

Is Virtueconomy a nonprofit?

ANSWER

Virtueconomy is a for-profit social enterprise. At the very core of our model is the belief that you can make money AND do good. The idea that these two goals are at odds with one other is not only outdated and incorrect, but on the contrary, Virtueconomy is out to prove that you can and should do well, by Virtue of doing good. We are therefore not ashamed to say we are for-profit. There is a near perfect correlation between our successes and the amount of social impact that we can help nonprofits drive. We are also big on transparency, and will be following the lead of the nonprofit world in publishing our financials, so you, our tribe members can always hold us accountable. Rest assured that how well we do is fractional compared to the amount of good we achieve. 

Additionally, given the pace that we want to grow our technology and platform, we determined that being a for-profit company gives us better flexibility by not having to rely on grants. This business structure allows us the option of bringing on like-minded investors to our team, who could provide us with the resources and capital needed to build the best product to amplify social impact.

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Question

How can i join?

Answer

A great starting point is to join our tribe to receive updates on the Virtueconomy and the uplifting stories that you are helping to fuel. Whether your passion is social impact, women empowerment, social innovation or you just love shopping, we want you to be a part of our mission to Create Virtue. You can connect with our tribe over on our Facebook or Twitter.

Aside from shopping, there are a number of ways you can play an active role in the Virtueconomy. We believe that everyone can Create Virtue and contribute to the tribe and its virtue-fueled mission.

If you are a Business who wants to be a part of this revolutionary social good model, join to get more information.

If you are a Nonprofit that wants break free from year on year survival mode as recipients of uplifting pivotal services, join to get more information.

If you are a Talented Professional, who wants to get paid to do what you love doing, and do it for great causes,  join to get more information.

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Question

Am I buying products from Virtueconomy or from the business?

Answer

Our partner businesses.

Virtueconomy features a handful of the most popular items from our Virtue Co. business partners. All purchases will be made via their websites. Just keep your eyes peeled for products indicated with our logo, as only the sale of these products will be converted into Virtueconomy services.  Back to top

Question

How does virtueconomy make money?

Answer

Our model uses a 80:20 split with each Virtue Co.

80% of the money that flows through the Virtueconomy will be used to employ services for our nonprofit partners. We keep the remaining 20% of this. We keep the remaining percentage to cover our costs in building the platform., partnership acquisition and management, creative innovation and more. For example, if the product sales of Virtue Co. vendors yield a payment of $5,000 to us. We keep $1000 of that and use the remaining $4,000 towards helping the nonprofit in the areas they need it most.

Read about our WHY here.

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Question

Are you only focused on women's empowerment?

Answer

As a means of narrowing our initial focus, we wanted to concentrate on a specific niche. We have chosen the Women Empowerment space, which will see products bought from a Virtue Co. created by women, for women, and they’ll be matched with nonprofits that focus specifically on benefitting girls or women. The Virtueconomy is a scalable model and we believe that the world would be a significantly better place if every business transaction was one of Virtue with a portion of the purchase going toward social good. For now we are heavily focused on helping fuel women empowerment, a passion of ours that needs much more support in order to help tear down the complex barriers women face.

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Question

Why did you choose women's empowerment as your initial focus?

Answer

Glad you asked! To put it simply, we are passionate about issues that make a difference for women and girls. We believe sexism, gender inequality, and the barriers women and girls face are unacceptable and we are motivated to do our part in helping address them.

We at Virtueconomy believe, whether male or female, it is our responsibility to support causes for women and girls as well as help remove gender inequality when it comes to driving sales and impact. 

It is our hope that our platform will be a tool used by empowered women to drive their profits and impact.

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Question

How do you choose the match between virtue co. businesses and Virtue Orgs?

Answer

This decision is based on numerous factors:

We start by getting to know both parties. In particular, we try to learn about the passions and motivation of the entrepreneur. We seek to discover their ‘Why’ and then aim to translate that into a meaningful connection with a relevant nonprofit cause.

We also try factor in other considerations such as product-cause fit (e.g. connecting an eyeglasses store with an eye-care cause). We then suggest our recommended matches to both parties, ensuring we have mutual agreement and excitement. 

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Question

Can I choose which nonprofit benefits from my purchases?

ANSWER

No. Each business you purchase from is matched exclusively to a relevant partner nonprofit. This is the cause the Virtue Co. business has chosen to support and by purchasing their products, you will be helping them to meaningfully uplift their matched nonprofit. Additionally, this makes for a seamless way for you to make a difference instead of picking and choosing from an overwhelming number of amazing causes.

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Question

How long do campaigns last?

ANSWER

This is variable and is decided by the Virtue Co. In order to have a meaningful amount of inflow to convert into nonprofit services, we require a minimum of a one month campaign period. Ideally, the relationship will continue after the campign ends and become a continuous partnership.   Back to top

Question

What percentage of sales do businesses contribute towards the virtueconomy?

ANSWER

This is negotiated on a case by case basis with each Virtue Co. vendor. Our recommendation is that a minimum of 10% of the sale price is contributed to the Virtueconomy, but this may understandably vary based on the nature and cost of the products being sold. We welcome contributing as high a percentage as possible, but in order for this to be a viable and sustainable long term agreement for all stakeholders, we encourage each Virtue Co. to make sure the economics of the transaction make sense to them. The contributed percentage will always be clearly and transparently communicated at the point of sale.   

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Question

How are the Virtue co. businesses chosen?

How are the nominated products determined?

ANSWER

We try to avoid being too exclusionary when it comes to our Virtue Co. vendors. If there are businesses that want to contribute to the social good movement, we are always encouraging of that. Part of our mission is to help awaken their social consciousness and part of our shared-value model is that the Virtue Co. gains much more value than just profits.

Therefore we seek businesses with:

 

  • ethical business practices

  • positive intent and meaningful desire to do good

  • generosity of spirit

  • high quality goods

When it comes to product selection, Virtueconomy works with each Virtue Co. to choose which products are included in The Virtue Collective. Although each Virtue Co. has autonomy over which products are selected, we recommend a variety that showcases their full range and their most popular items.

If you are a business with these attributes, you can nominate to become a Virtue Co. here.

If you would like to nominate an impactful business that you care about, email us!

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Question

Will the virtue co. businesses receive a tax deduction for their contributions?

ANSWER

No. Because the Virtue Co. businesses are not providing a monetary donation to the nonprofits, these contributions are therefore not eligible for tax deductions. Remember, the Virtue Co. businesses pay Virtueconomy (a for-profit social enterprise). We then convert these funds into in-kind services for our Virtue Org. partners.

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Question

Is "Overhead Ratio" Really a problem for most nonprofits?

ANSWER

The “Overhead Myth” is the primary cause of stagnation of the nonprofit industry. Unfortunately, it is responsible for much of the crippled innovation within the sector because it perverts donor preferences and expectations, which subsequently fuels the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle. As a result, this leaves nonprofits living in survival mode. It’s pretty hard to innovate and grow when you’re just focused on surviving year on year. 

Don’t just take our word for it. Three of the biggest watchdogs of the Nonprofit Industry (Charity Navigator, Guidestar and BBB Wise Giving Alliance) came together to create OverheadMyth.com. They together penned open letters to both the Donors of America and the Nonprofits of America to begin the education process around how damaging this obsession with overhead ratio is.

Read about our WHY here.

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Question

If i Shouldn't judge a nonprofit by its overhead ratio, what should i judge it by?

ANSWER

There is a much broader set of factors about nonprofit performance that can and should be focused on: transparency, governance, leadership, results, and finances. Our aim with Virtueconomy is to help nonprofits drive impact and results, to give them the creative freedom to innovate and grow, to adopt a longer term view of growth investing rather than the short term view of survival. We want their legacy to be about the amount of people their organization impacts, not their ability to stay below an unrealistic overhead expense ratio!

For more detail on the overhead ratio, we defer to the pros at OverheadMyth.com

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Question

What type of services do you offer nonprofits?

ANSWER

Considering donor’s often unrealistic expectations and the scarcity of resources within the nonprofit world, investing in the nonprofit itself is very often deprioritized behind more pressing needs. This kind of investment means focusing on areas such as marketing, branding, design, IT infrastructure, HR etc. and doing so with quality and innovation. These areas are pivotal to the growth of any successful for-profit businesses, yet they’re so often neglected by nonprofits in survival mode. We provide nonprofits with bespoke services in these crucial areas where the nonprofits lack the resources, bandwidth or expertise to help themselves. 

Our range of services range include:

  • Consulting: strategy, management

  • Marketing: strategy, content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, web analytics, branding, copywriting

  • Design & Development: logo design, graphic design, illustration, web & mobile design and development

  • Production: photography, videography

  • Fundraising: creative fundraising, campaign management, online donation optimization

If you or someone you know is a talented professional or creative that wants to get paid to do what you love doing, AND do it for a good cause, please join us to learn more about being a part of our Highv.

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Question

Does Virtueconomy provide all of these services?

ANSWER

We have a kick-ass in-house team of marketers, consultants, designers and business developers. However, in order to offer the breadth of services that we do, we are building up an extension team full of highly talented creative freelancers and professionals from all around the world. We are ultimately responsible for all the services provided, and work produced via Virtueconomy, and as such we hold our Highv to the same high standard we hold ourselves. We consider them teammates and treat them as such.

The reason we have chosen this model vs bringing on all in-house talent, is that this way we can provide talented freelancers with awesome job opportunities, attract more amazing members to the tribe, and also to build a more scalable talent pool.

If you’re a creative that wants to get paid to do what you love doing, AND do it for a good cause, please join us to learn more about being a part of our Highv.

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Question

Who decides what services a nonprofit will receive?

ANSWER

Firstly, we consult with nonprofits to learn everything we can about their organization. We get to understand their purpose, mission and ambitions, as well as their needs and desires. We then provide nonprofits with suggestions and recommendations based on their needs and the budget at hand. This budget is determined by the sales generated by their Virtue Co. partners during the campaign periods.

Nonprofits will often have critical and urgent needs that require attending and we will certainly help service those. However, our vision is about shifting the mindset of nonprofits, from survival to growth, and so we will favor and try encourage this approach in our consultations with the nonprofits.

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