Grupo Islita: Is Financial Sustainability Better Secured by Becominga Non-profit Organisation or a For-profit Enterprise?

AbstractThis article presents a teaching case on a non-profit organisation that servesthe base of the pyramid populations in Costa Rica. The organisation needs todetermine whether its financial sustainability is better secured by increasingits services or by seeking funds from the donor market. The case presents threeteaching goals. First, participants will learn the pros and cons of gainingfinancial resources as a non-profit organisation or as a business withsignificant social and environmental impacts. Second, participants willunderstand how an organisation can integrate poor communities into its corebusiness. Finally, participants will reflect on the challenges that a managementteam faces when selling a socially oriented, sustainability-driven hotel servicethat is located in a high poverty area to upscale tourists or donors.