Social Enterprise Project Empowers Middle School Girls

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

What's up my friends, welcome to Side Hustle School, the only program bringing you a daily story of somebody out there who is creating a little bit more freedom for themselves, creating security options, maybe even doing some good in the world in the form of a side hustle. There's an income generating project that you work on apart from your job. It's not just about getting another job. It's about creating a little business even if you have never thought about starting a business or being an entrepreneur by using the skills you have and without spending a lot of money. Now today we're going to talk about a social enterprise project.

This is basically a business, it's actually a business not a charity, but with the goal of doing good. And in this case it's a group of women who start a for-profit project. And from their website they say we're a for-profit, for-good company, but 100% of what we do goes toward making the world a better place through improving the lives of girls. A portion of our work generates no income. The rest is reinvested into the business enabling it to grow and reach more girls.

Now they do have a long-term goal of being able to take profits for themselves. That's why it's not structured as a non-profit or a charity. But in the meantime they're focused on that topic of girls empowerment, specifically connecting middle school girls with caregivers while exploring topics about body image, sexuality, and creativity. So here is the shout out to our sponsor, I appreciate them helping us be for-profit and for-good as well, and then I'll tell you about this social enterprise project. Stay tuned!

By day, Knight Stivender is the Director of Marketing and Business Development. By other times she's the CEO of Girls to the Moon, an LLC she started in 2014 with business partners Courtney Sider and Courtney Rogers. Girls to the Moon connects middle school aged girls between the age of 10-14 with their caregivers, exploring topics like healthy friendships, body image, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and innovation. The program encourages girls to be their best selves, impact their communities, and create a more inclusive culture. It started as something that Knight and her partners wished it existed when they were that age.

Knight is a single parent raising her daughter. She always thought how great it would be if there was a program out there to help other parents or caregivers better connect. Her mind percolated with an assortment of ideas. After brainstorming with her partners, they settled on hosting an event. All three partners have backgrounds in business development, marketing, and technology, so they modeled their event after the many events they'd attended or spoken at.

They brought in speakers from a variety of fields and had them give TEDx-style talks. They also set up an interactive gallery of booths in the hallways during the downtimes when nobody was speaking. They named their event the Campference, a cross between a camp and a conference. More formal than a camp, but less formal than a conference. We could call it the Goldilocks of Events.

That campference was just right. It's now an annual event, and Girls to the Moon raises over $50,000 annually and has led to smaller events taking place throughout the year. So how did Knight and her team pull this off? Well, they go about raising money a few different ways. Their annual campference charges $45 a ticket, or you can purchase a two-pack for $70.

They want to make sure they don't price anyone out because their business is all-inclusive. They also offer scholarships for those who can't pay. Smaller events range from $10 to $45 a ticket. For those, they'll do cool things like rent out a movie theater for a screening of a wrinkle in time. Then have a NASA astrophysicist come in and talk about all the stuff they just saw on the big screen.

Or they'll host a boxing event, where they talk to the girls about how anger can be a healthy emotion and the responsible ways to handle it, all before unleashing them on the heavy bags for a few rounds. Revenue really grew and became a lot more sustainable once they introduced a membership model. Girls to the Moon now has 15 corporate supporters who donate between $500 and $3,000 a year, and up to 100 individual donors contributing smaller amounts. Again, for now it's a social enterprise project with all proceeds going back into the work, but they do hope to be able to transition to paying themselves soon. Now, here's one thing that's been hard for Knight.

She says, "Sometimes I have to remember that we do this for good, for fun, on the side with our friends and family, and that if we miss a deadline or if it takes longer to get to a goal, it isn't the end of the world. I am a very goal-oriented and competitive person, which in general is good, but I can be too hard on myself and on others around me if things aren't working the way my spreadsheets and to-do lists say they should." I understand that because I feel exactly the same way. I'm very dependent on my spreadsheets and task lists. For now, Knight says she's happy with the way things are going. The pressure to hit a certain revenue goal is gone, which has allowed for a more relaxed atmosphere.

That's also left her with more time to focus on what matters most, sending girls to the moon. All right, so here's a question that I know some of our listeners will have. Why not run this kind of project as a charity? Because we only feature for-profit businesses, and in this case, it's a social enterprise project. And more and more companies or people or organizations, etc., are choosing this kind of model for their business/mission.

And it's because when you have a nonprofit, there are certain benefits you can receive that aren't available to businesses. But on the other hand, when you operate as a business, you have some other options that would not be available to you if you operate it as a charity. For example, with a for-profit business, you can be the owner. You can sell that business one day. You have a lot more flexibility on what you can ultimately end up paying yourself or employees.

On the other hand, if you're using this kind of model, it's harder to solicit donations because most donors want to give to tax-deductible organizations. But at least in this story, it seems Knight and her co-founders have found a way around it. So, I see in my notes that she has a goal. By the end of this year, it's going to turn into a full-time gig for one of the three of them, and eventually they want all three of them to be on the payroll. So, interesting model, interesting way to set this up, and of course, a wonderful cause.

Great cause, wonderful idea, and maybe some of our listeners will be interested in learning more. If that is you, perhaps, if you're interested in their social mission or their business, if you want to come and take a look, the show notes for today's episode are at sidehustleschool.com/782. That's episode 782. Thanks so much for being out there. I'll be back again tomorrow, and I hope you will too.

My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.