How do we pay operating expenses if we give all our profits away?
In the simplest terms, when we say 100% of profits, we mean what’s left after normal business expenses are deducted from the income of book sales.
Like all businesses (commercial or nonprofit), there are expenses required to operate Books Beyond Borders, such as employee compensation, cost of goods, marketing, web hosting, professional fees, and corporate taxes, etc.
The net profits will be channeled to The Village Fund (a separate bank account, under the same entity) and distribute grants bi-annually to nonprofit partners addressing rural poverty and illiteracy.
Retaining 20% as reserves
20% of the total Fund is reserved to cover contingencies such as future pledges to charitable organizations, maintain funding capability to respond rapidly to emergencies like natural disasters, make program related investments, and cover unanticipated expenditures. In all cases, reserve funds can only be used for charitable purposes.
Two bank accounts
When we started Books Beyond Borders, we made a bold promise: 100% of online donations and profits would go directly to fund educational causes. Since we treat our business operations and projects we fund differently - we’ve set up two separate bank accounts so we’ll never mix the funds up.
Here's an illustration:
If the entity were to be wound up, all surplus and reserves would go directly to charity partners we work with.
To view our financials, click here.