John George: Creating Ownership

Blight Busters' sister organizations each take ownership of its front in the war on blight.

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Filed under: Blight Busters | Defining New Markets | Detroit, MI | John George | Non-profit

John George, founder of Blight Busters, feels non-profits need to think like businesses to survive (download 7 minute iPod compatible video, 36MB). To this end, he has created a series of sister organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit. These separate organizations each have their own director, own board, and own focus. In this way, each organization takes ownership of its front in the war on blight.

Two examples of these partnerships are:

• Good Faith Homes which buys and rehabs homes, splitting the profits with Blight Busters.
• The Artist Village which combines community art outreach with a coffee shop and cafe.