How To Start A Charitable Business with Meals of Hope

Start a Charitable Business

In a world filled with too many issues and challenges to name, people have developed so many different ways to help those in need. Nonprofits, of course, are one of the more recognizable ways people can form an organization with one or several philanthropic goals in mind. More specifically, charitable organizations have a mission to improve the quality of life for inside and beyond their communities.

But that’s not the only way to help your community. Increasingly, charitable for-profit organizations are making a huge difference in serving a charitable mission, but also helping local entrepreneurs realize their dreams of small business ownership. Indeed, charitable for-profits, also known as charitable businesses, strike an amazing balance, generating a profit while at the same time striving for social betterment objectives.

“For entrepreneurs, business owners, workers and consumers, the introduction of (charitable businesses) is an exciting development,” according to a report in Forbes magazine. “Community and environmentally minded business owners can preserve their social goals without sacrificing the ability to make a profit.”

How to Start a Charitable Business with a Meals of Hope Franchise

Meals of Hope was founded as a nonprofit in 2007 with the sole mission of sending food to Haiti, one of the most impoverished countries on the planet. At the time, President and CEO Steve Popper put out a call for volunteers to help pack meals to send to Haiti, and it took off. On the day of the event, more than 500 people showed up and packed more than 135,000 meals. It soon became clear to Popper that the best way to reach the most people and do the most amount of good was to turn to the franchise model.

“The turnout was incredible, and I thought, let’s see if we can pack a million meals in a year,” Steve says. “It took us less than a year to reach that goal. I decided to keep going and to really focus on meeting the need in my local community of Southwest Florida. Meals of Hope was becoming so successful that in 2012 I sold my partnership share of the lumber business to pursue this full time. Since then, we’ve done remarkable things. We’ve packed over 80 million meals. We’ve started 15 food pantries that feed over 10,000 people a week (about 4,000 families). And now, we decided that the best way to expand our ability to fight the hunger crisis is to franchise our model and expand across the country. We’re so excited to be in a position to help entrepreneurs own businesses that have tremendous profit-potential while also making such a tremendous difference in people’s lives.”

Meal Packing for Your Community

Meals of Hope’s business model is as simple as it gets. Franchise owners are tasked with building relationships with organizations and community members in order to find sponsors for meal packing events (such as businesses, schools, churches, etc.). Then, we provide all the ingredients. Sponsors are responsible for organizing volunteers, while Meals of Hope makes sure meal packing events are high energy, immersive, and meaningful for all involved.

After every event, the impact is felt. Packed meals are picked up by a local food bank and distributed to those most in need in the community. Little by little, Meals of Hope and its volunteers are helping fight the hunger crisis, which affects millions of Americans in communities across the country. And for sponsors and volunteers, we provide a meaningful experience that builds community strength.

Always Supported

Meals of Hope franchise owners have the full backing of a corporate team that’s dedicated to your business. We offer world class training and support, including marketing, professional development and ongoing support. From day one, franchise owners are given every resource they need to grow their business, and we’re with you every step of the way for the entire life of the franchise.

“We don’t call our owners franchisees, we call them Packing Partners, because they are truly partners of Meals of Hope,” Popper says. “They are a part of a family that’s committed to doing whatever we can to help them grow and thrive. Nothing about our end is done with financial gain in mind. Even our franchise fee goes to support the food pantries that feed 1,000 people a week. The more successful our franchise owners are, the more people we all get to help together.”

Large Territories

Meals of Hope has designed its available territories to be able to offer markets with the strongest growth potential and the ability to build the relationships necessary to host tons of meal packaging events every year. That’s why our available territories are large, protected, and exclusive – with some territories featuring up to four million people. In this way, we’re also able to help more people than ever suffering from food insecurity.

“Now is the time to invest in a Meals of Hope franchise,” says Jack Day, Director of Franchise Development. “We only have 64 territories available, which means, once they’re gone, they’re gone. This is an incredible opportunity for entrepreneurs who are ready to leverage their leadership skills, their relationship building skills, and desire to help make the place where they live more food secure. This is a vitally important issue, and we’ve proven that this business model can have an enormous impact. We’re excited to partner with entrepreneurs who share our commitment to fighting the hunger crisis.”

Learn More about Meals of Hope Franchise

Do you want to run your own business while at the same time giving back to your community? Look no further than Meals of Hope! To learn more, visit our research pages here or make a request for more information today