To be non-profit, or not to be…

That is our question, to you. One of the biggest initial decisions we have to make in order to start a literary magazine, is non-profit versus for-profit. Which one best fits our needs, our goals, our growth and mobility as a lit mag? Why?

We don’t pretend to know all the nitty-gritty details of non-profit inner workings… yet. What we do know is general information, and what we have is a boatload of questions. Along the way to our own enlightenment (which, as always, we gladly share with you, dear readers, in the off chance there are other lit mag dreamers out there), we’ll be researching everything we can get our hands on, as well as interviewing fellow lit-org folk who have already made their way in the non-profit world swimmingly.

So far, we’re leaning toward a non-profit lit mag, based on some very general and ideological values:

1.) Grants. As a non-profit, we can apply for grants, and hopefully have more security that way in the literary world. Minnesota has a decent number of grants available, and this is how all the non-profits I have worked for are able to get by with making choices based on the value of the art, instead of the pressure of what makes the moolah.

2.) Which brings me to our next reason: less focus on the green stuff. This means more focus on content (ideally, anyway). We are OK with not making money in this endeavor. We’d like the journal to be a true reflection of our interests: the literature and art by y’all that we want to see published, letterpress printed, gabbed about. We do not want the nasty pressures of having to make money, if we can possibly help it. We just want to break even someday.

3.) Less focus on competition. Non-profit status also takes away the edge of cut-throat competition. I suppose we will be “competing” to some extent with other magazines, but in non-profits, there is more of an emphasis on community, on helping each other out. Seeing as that is the whole point to this here blog, it’s obviously an important aspect for us.

Or, maybe I’m just being an idealist. Let’s find out. (It’s OK, you can disagree with me!) Do you have non-profit experience? What are your thoughts on the matter?