WFPC redefined the role of the Vibrant Planet nonprofit and helped it spin out a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), governed in part by the nonprofit. The nonprofit is focused on providing public access to updated, reliable data about the world's forests. The PBC is building a common platform to host simulations, planning activities and monitoring applications for use by government agencies, private landowners, and community collaboratives. The goal: balance the tradeoffs of forest and fire ecology in the wildland-urban interface with the services natural landscapes provide humans and other species.

Sankari Studios began with some bold questions: can gaming be activated for good? Can you motivate and engage everyone with access to a mobile device to solve our world’s hardest problems? Can you build a game that simulates climate issues and rewards gamers with “points” that translate to real world dollars applied to climate change solutions? Partnering with WFPC, Sankari structured as a Public Benefit Corporation to receive both for profit investments as well as grants that support the charitable and educational aspects of gameplay, and also built a sidecar charitable vehicle to deploy gameplay profits.

As an active investor and generous philanthropist, Jonathan Soros sought a way to bring these two areas of work together and create a framework for other like minded investors to do the same. Engaging WFPC, he created a governance and financing structure for his new social enterprise, Athletes Unlimited, that (a) gives athletes themselves a significant ownership and management stake in the enterprise, and (b) creates a new form of capped equity — “mission equity” — to ensure that profits shared are directed to advancing the company’s mission to develop athletes as civic leaders and role models.

Combining nonprofit and for-profit activities for environmental impact

MethaneSAT is a novel satellite system created by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) that tracks global methane emissions, which oil and gas companies, governments, investors and others can use to shape and evaluate emissions reduction strategies.

The EDF worked closely with WFPC to design and spin out a structure of wholly-owned LLC subsidiaries to house the MethaneSAT project. This structure allows EDF (a 501(c)3 public charity) to separate its long-standing strategies and activities from the very different financial, operational and legal issues arising from operating a cutting edge satellite company. The EDF/MethaneSAT structure also allows the project to interact more flexibly with for-profit partners and foreign governments/agencies. Read more…

For-profit plus nonprofit ventures for journalism and media

Launched in 2013 by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar, First Look Media was founded on the fundamental belief that freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the power of storytelling, are vital to both a vibrant culture and a thriving democracy. Pierre worked closely with WFPC to design a novel legal structure for media and journalism: First Look Media is comprised of a for-profit (Topic Studios) that operates across film, television, and podcasts and brings to the screen some of the most culturally significant and provocative stories of our time; and a nonprofit, home to The Intercept (renowned for its dedication to fearless, adversarial journalism), Field of Vision (the critically acclaimed, filmmaker-driven documentary unit), and The Press Freedom Defense Fund (supporting journalists, news organizations and whistleblowers standing up for press freedoms and access to information that is in the public interest).

Partnering for nimble crisis response

In the early months of Covid-19, the SPANX by Sara Blakely Foundation sought to support the recovery and revitalization of female entrepreneurs affected by the crisis. Sara wanted to focus on women-owned organizations across the country, regardless of whether they were a nonprofit or for-profit, and she wanted to move fast. The SPANX by Sara Blakely Foundation had never tried to process a very large number of grants, to both nonprofits and for profits, under such urgent time pressure. The Foundation worked with WFPC to partner with Global Giving and create The Red Backpack Fund, which made 5 million dollars of rapid donations to female entrepreneurs, both for-profit and nonprofit. The Red Backpack Fund provided $5,000 to each entrepreneur, the exact amount Sara Blakely used to start Spanx 20 years ago. Enthusiastic members of the public contributed additional funds to The Red Backpack Fund as well.