What exactly is a Philanthropreneur’s Business Model?

I beg your pardon - a what business model? According to Wikipedia “a Philanthropreneur is an entrepreneurial philanthropist.” An entrepreneur is “someone who runs an enterprise, most often their own business” and philanthropy is “providing for the increase in the well-being of humankind and the environment.”
There is a growing community of people who are living this new reality. These people have learned there is an abundance of wealth in the world and don’t subscribe to the mistaken reasoning that goes “once I have made my fortune climbing the corporate ladder I will be able to have my share of the abundance and then contribute to philanthropic causes.”
These people now know that it is not the way life works. They know that abundance begins first with making a decision. They have decided they want to be wealthy, to be a help in the world, and they are being that person now.
But having made that decision, how does the person in the street practically go about making that happen for themselves?
There is an abundance of new ideas and opportunities available; new ones it seems every day, hour minute and second. Which is the one that enables these people to realise what they have decided to be?
New on the scene is a business that does just that. A business whose core vision is philanthropy. The mission for this business is “To empower individuals with opportunity, and to facilitate humanitarian and environmental aid, where it is needed in the world.”
This is a win-win-win business where money from the sales of those participating goes directly to humanitarian and environmental projects. The company, headquartered in the US, partners with action-oriented humanitarian and environmental organizations that implement immediate, as well as sustainable, long-term solutions to the world's problems, such as delivering food, medical care, building water purification systems and educational mechanisms that abolish prejudice, oppression, and violence.
And if that is not enough those involved in the business have an opportunity to roll up their sleeves and contribute on site in a much more personal way by giving their own sweat equity.
The product for this business is provided by a partner company that has been a leader in its niche in the travel industry for nearly two decades and provides customers with top shelf global travel services at deeply discounted prices. Why travel and how does this fit the vision? It seems that a common passion amongst successful entrepreneurs is a love of travel and so it’s no surprise that for philanthropreneurs popular destinations are the humanitarian and environmental project sites themselves.
By operating their business these business owners are being the philanthropreneur they have envisioned, and they’re being it now, doing it now, and having the rewards now, not fantasising about it in the unfounded world of “once I have enough money, then I’ll be able to do what I want”. They have discovered this business enables them to have what Napoleon Hill describes in his classic book “Think and Grow Rich” as the “one quality one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose.”
Businesses that have a vision to be a positive force changing the world for the better are not uncommon, but this new business is completely unique in that it has not only enshrined this in the company mission, but has also cemented it in place as a cornerstone of its fundamental method of operating: revenues are applied to humanitarian and environmental initiatives all around the globe. In fact the very raison d’etre for taking its products to market is for the company and its distributors to do their part to bring into being a world in which each human being has the food, home, and quality of life they deserve and for generations to come.
The business model employed by the company is one of the most effective at delivering market leading performance for all stake holders: network marketing. The founders and leaders in the company have over fifty years of combined experience in the industry and are adept at taking tried and proven strategies and melding them with the latest demographic and socioeconomic trends and state of the art technology. Looking at it another way; in the current employment market, where working for a corporate is suffering a crisis of employee confidence, they have hit the sweet spot where self employment in a home based business intersects with the viral reach of social networking.
Value systems like the balanced scorecard and triple bottom line (the “three pillars” - people, planet, profit ) that have become popular in forward thinking corporations are now being adopted personally by enlightened employees. They had discovered that actually achieving work/life balance while employed by corporate masters driven by quarterly stockholder reporting is an urban myth. These executives and managers are making the decision (granted redundancy and corporate failure are sometimes forcing their hand) to take responsibility for their own financial destiny and discovering that working for themselves with the right business model really can deliver a life/work balance.
This company now provides an opportunity where all of the three pillars can be attained by motivated individuals. Participants generate income for their own households and at the same time deliver funds for crisis relief as well as humanitarian and environmental causes. Being in-tune with market trends the company has responded to one of the most Googled financial phrases, “residual income” (circa ten million results) so, together with high-percentage gross profits are two of the key design criteria for the compensation system. Low entry costs combined with a highly automated sales process makes for a simple yet highly lucrative home based business.
Clearly working in this sort of opportunity is not for everyone. High levels of personal integrity are no doubt a pre-requisite. The target market is clearly highly energized self starters with a desire to be a force for positive change in the world. It will also appeal to savvy professionals (or couples for that matter) with a strong aspiration for personal financial accountability. The current surfeit of retrenched and unemployed executives and managers on the one hand and disillusioned multi-level marketers will no doubt offer an ample supply.
Having said that it is not for everybody, it clearly is already an attractive proposition for many. The speed at which the company is growing exhibits a viral trend-line. Even before the public launch in July 2010 there were early adopters on five continents who are already earning and contributing.
This community of philanthropreneurs has realized that competition is no longer enough for long term viability and success and together is carving out a new integrated value market niche, following the “Sur/Petition” business strategy advanced by another creative innovator, Edward de Bono.
Undoubtedly in the future copy-cat companies will see the success and attempt to mimic what this company has pioneered, but they remain the innovator.