Publications
The Charitable Ownership Advantage: Strange if Not True
TL;DR: The same business is worth more under charitable ownership. Stakeholders prefer companies whose profits go to charity, and in managerial capitalism, changing ownership doesn’t change operations. You get the preference advantage without the operational tradeoffs of other ethical models. For this to be false, something strange would have to happen between documented preferences and market behavior. The downside of testing is bounded; the upside could redirect trillions to solving humanity’s biggest
The War Philanthropists Don’t Know They Can Win
Every year, the global economy generates $10 trillion in profits. These profits flow overwhelmingly to people who already have wealth, while the organizations that could eliminate malaria, reverse climate damage, and end factory farming operate on scraps. This isn’t just inefficient. It’s absurd. And it’s fixable, not through revolution or regulation, but through a simple discovery about how markets actually work. The Discovery That Changes Everything When people can choose between two
Capitalism’s $10 Trillion Routing Error—And How to Fix It
Building Profit for Good Infrastructure: Part 1 of 5 Executive Summary The Problem: Corporations generate $10+ trillion in annual profits while proven solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges—from malaria prevention to disaster relief—remain chronically underfunded. This isn’t malice; it’s a routing error in capitalism’s design. The Solution: Profit for Good (PFG) companies operate identically to traditional businesses but lock 90%+ of profits to charity through their ownership structure. Examples like Newman’s Own ($600M+
Above-Market Philanthropy: Why Profit for Good Can Surpass Normal Returns
Picture this: You’re buying an event ticket or a jar of pasta sauce at its usual price. Instead of lining random shareholders’ pockets, your purchase helps fund malaria prevention or educational programs.
From Charity Choice to Competitive Advantage: The Power of Profit for Good
Imagine a world where every purchase you make helps save lives or protect the environment. This is the promise of Profit for Good (PFG) businesses.
How to amplify the world’s donation dollars with Profit for Good | Brad West | TEDxTaftAvenue
Solving big world problems like extreme poverty, factory farming, and environmental degradation through a business model, Profit for Good.
The Motivation Behind Expanding Profit for Good
If Profit for Good diverts money from investors to effective charities, it could be transformative for the world.
What is Profit for Good?
A very simple way of thinking about Profit for Good Businesses is that it is like a normal business, except charities are in the position that shareholders are in normal businesses. This is to say, profits, or the money a business makes minus its costs, benefit charities.
Making Trillions for Effective Charities through the Consumer Economy
I write this paper in response to some feedback I have gotten from others in the EA community regarding the length of my prior post. So here’s a shorter version. Please note that we are now using the term “Profit for Good” (here described as Guided Consumption). For the companies that direct all or the vast majority of profits to charities we refer to them as “Profit for Good Companies” or just “Profit
Guided Consumption Theory: A Virtuous Dance between Altruistic Agents, Economic Discriminators, and Opportunistic Helpers
Guided Consumption Theory: A Virtuous Dance between Altruistic Agents, Economic Discriminators, and Opportunistic Helpers Please note that we are now using the term “Profit for Good” (here described as Guided Consumption). For the companies that direct all or the vast majority of profits to charities we refer to them as “Profit for Good Companies” or just “Profit for Goods” (here described as Guiding Companies). Previous posts have set forth the concept of
Founder TEDx talk
A 12-minute introduction to the Profit for Good model and the case for businesses whose profits permanently flow to effective charities, the foundational public articulation of the ideas Project COA is now testing rigorously.