Better World Books is a self-sustaining, for-profit social venture

What Company Is Offering:
Better World Books is a self-sustaining, for-profit social venture whose mission is to capitalize on the value of the book to fund literacy initiatives locally, nationally and around the world.

They partner with over 750 libraries and 1,200 college campuses across the U.S. and Canada, collecting unwanted textbooks and library discards in support of non-profit literacy programs.

How It Works:

Social ventures operate under a for-profit business model in which success is measured by the positive impact a company makes in addressing a specific social issue. In the case of Better World Books, that issue is literacy. The primary purpose of a for-profit social venture is to generate a “social profit” by harnessing the power of commerce.

By operating as a social venture, Better World Books provides its non-profit partners with a consistent and stable source of unrestricted funding. This, in turn, allows the organizations to focus on implementing effective literacy and education programs -- instead of spending an inordinate amount of time raising funds. The nature of our business model allows Better World Books to react swiftly to market opportunities, thereby leveraging the maximum social profit through the wonders of capitalism. As a sustainable venture, we do not rely on government or foundation grants or aid of any kind.
More at:http://www.betterworldbooks.com/