Foundation

Foundation Success Stories [2024]

Updated: September 23rd, 2024

Need to make a tangible impact? Consider starting a foundation. A foundation is an organization established to fund charitable activities and support community projects.

Unlike for-profit entities, this venture is driven by a mission to create positive social change. Your focus will range from fundraising and grant writing to project management and community engagement.

Though it requires a rigorous framework—including financial oversight and legal compliance—the rewards extend beyond profit margins. Running a foundation grants you the ability to allocate resources to causes you care about, creating lasting benefits.

If you’re passionate about making a difference and willing to navigate the complexities of non-profit management, forming a foundation can be highly fulfilling. Initiating this business means not just making a living, but making a life worth living.

In this list, you'll find real-world foundation success stories and very profitable examples of starting a foundation that makes money.

1. Foundation for a Human Internet ($1.2K/year)

In 2019, Bastian, leveraging his decade-long experience in digital marketing, witnessed rampant bot-generated misinformation during Indonesia's presidential elections, inspiring him to create humanID—an anonymous Single Sign-On solution, now supported by Harvard Business School and Mozilla.

How much money it makes: $1.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 0

SMALLBORDER

This Founder Wants To Go Head To Head With Facebook's Most Used Feature

HumanID, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting online privacy and fighting fake news, has created an anonymous online and anonymous Single Sign-On (SSO) service to block spam and automated accounts, charging just 1 cent to run it, and has already attracted hundreds of users across various sites.

Read by 1,562 founders