From .org to .com: Our Evolution for Impact
Soil Upside's new corporate structure. We're building a data business about capital flows to soil health, optimized for impact.
As we unveil our new site at soilupside.com (previously at soilupside.org), we're excited to share a significant transformation in our journey. We're shifting from a nonprofit model to a hybrid structure that includes:
A for-profit Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)
A fiscal sponsor to accept philanthropic donations
Why We're Making This Change
Our mission is to create outsized impact in regenerative agriculture. To achieve this, we recognize that software, data, and capital are powerful tools for systems change.
Based on that, our goals have been and continue to be:
Build a durable, long-lasting organization
Develop cash-flow-positive operations based on software and data products
Motivate widespread change by aligning financial incentives across the value chain
However, operating as a nonprofit presented challenges:
Tax Complications: Cash-flow-positive operations can trigger "unrelated business income tax" issues and concerns about private inurement.
Funding Limitations: Philanthropy rarely funds data and software ventures.
Statutory Restrictions: Our core hypothesis is that analyzing and identifying financial opportunities is a powerful way to effect systems change. However, that approach isn’t considered a charitable purpose under current law.
Our Solution
By adopting a Public Benefit Corporation structure, we can equally prioritize purpose and profit in our governance.
Fiscal sponsorship enables us to accept philanthropic donations for projects that benefit specific groups, such as producers in certain regions, demographics, or those meeting certain economic criteria.
Learning from Peers
The tension between profit and purpose is one that many others are trying to navigate. Broadly, that includes organizations like B Lab, the "conscious capitalism" movement, and companies in the Social Enterprise Alliance.
In regenerative agriculture specifically, we've been inspired by organizations like Mad Agriculture and 4P Foods which are both utilizing novel structures to enable "blended capital stacks" of for-profit and nonprofit funding. Special thanks to Tom McDougall and Philip Taylor, Ph.D. for their support and guidance.
What's Next?
Launching New Services: We're introducing market intelligence services that focus on how capital is being deployed into soil health for stakeholders across the value chain. There are more details here.
Seeking Impact Investment: We're working to secure equity funding to build data infrastructure that supports all types of capital allocators -- farmers, brands, funds, and impact investors. If you’re an accredited investor and interested in learning more, please reach out. We'll be making the formal conversion to a PBC concurrent with our fundraise.
We're committed to building a durable, impact-centric business that benefits producers, communities, and ecosystems. Our spirit animal is a Zebra, not a Unicorn.
Thank You
We deeply appreciate all of your who are supporting us on this journey.
Stay tuned for more! If you've read this far, consider following us on LinkedIn (Soil Upside) or signing up for our email list.