Hybrid Organizations

A development initiative’s institutional profile impacts its options for targeting certain problems and populations, establishing partnerships and raising and managing funds. Some projects become more self-sustainable by legally registering as hybrid organizations because this profile allows them to create a non-profit section within their initiative in order to convey trustworthiness and get access to public and private donations and funds and, at the same time, develop a for-profit section to get economic returns and invest them in their social objectives. 

Both sections of the initiative support each other, which allows the project to diversify its sources of support and manage funds more efficiently and flexibly, becoming less dependent on external resources. Some of the for-profit activities that hybrid organizations develop may be the sale of consulting service packages, courses and workshops based on their know-how, the sale of products or services, or perhaps paid visits to the area where they work. The non-profit section, on the other hand, may receive public or private funds that facilitate outreach to populations and problems that don’t usually make profits.

With both sources of funding, some hybrid organizations can serve more populations, even those that usually get little to no donations or government funding. The mutual support between the non-profit and for-profit arms of the organization allows for a flexible use of resources, sometimes reaching communities that would otherwise be difficult to aid.