FRANK ROCCO
Marketing Director
News & Resources
Free Online Medical Care for Underserved Areas
Through the Global Pandemic and Beyond
Kenya
Sustainable
Business Model
Eventually,100% of each donation or grant will go to support programs, not overhead.
We're launching a global movement to improve health
The Global Telehealth Network (GTN) is a nonprofit organization founded by volunteer physicians and other health professionals who believe that health care is a human right and that no one should be denied access to care because of location or ability to pay.
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We’re launching a movement to reduce health disparities – in the U.S. and throughout the world – through the combination of volunteerism and modern technology.
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Our goal is to help create a level playing field, working with other organizations to help millions of people resolve or prevent health issues that shorten their lives, cause tremendous suffering, reduce their productivity and prevent them from advancing up the economic ladder.
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Fortunately, healthcare is not a zero-sum game! We can provide care for the poor without taking anything away from those who are better off financially.
Tandem business model
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We’re developing a family of allied companies that, in addition to the nonprofit Global Telehealth Network, includes two for-profit corporations.​
FOR-PROFIT
FOR-PROFIT
NON
PROFIT
Our “tandem” business model offers the best of both worlds, allowing all three companies to work for mutual benefit and for the Common Good.
Our nonprofit organization
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The Global Telehealth Network is dedicated to providing care at low or no cost for individuals and families in medically underserved areas who can’t pay much – if anything – for health care services.
As such, GTN must be a nonprofit organization, especially since our physicians volunteer their time and expertise.
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Another benefit of being a nonprofit organization is the eligibility to seek charitable contributions from individuals and from other donors such as foundations, family offices and corporations. Also, once we’ve established a “track record,” we anticipate attracting the attention of major foundations and government agencies. By that time, we’ll have developed convincing evidence of efficacy, with a solid plan for rapidly scaling to truly global proportions.
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However, it’s increasingly difficult to assure sustainability from donations and grants unless there is also an earned revenue stream, hence the importance of a close association with our for-profit partners.
Our for-profit Benefit Corporations
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Our for-profit entities are being structured as Delaware Public Benefit Corporations.
This is a relatively new corporate form that is specifically designed for mission-driven social enterprises. Benefit Corporations have legally defined goals that include not only profit for shareholders, but also positive impact on other stakeholders, including employees, customers, their communities, the broader society and the environment. The Benefit Corporation option is currently available in 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Some activities can be better accomplished through nonprofit organizations, while others are more readily accomplished by Benefit Corporations and other for-profit entities. Our for-profit Benefit Corporations will be funded initially by equity investment, then grown and sustained through revenues generated in multiple large addressable markets - sources of funding that are not readily available to a nonprofit.
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We expect these for-profit Benefit Corporations to provide a fair financial return on investment (ROI) for their shareholders, but unlike more traditional stock-issuing corporations, maximizing the ROI for shareholders is not their only legal commitment. Their mission and values will be baked into their corporate bylaws, along with a pledge to consider the interests of all the other stakeholders that are affected by corporate decisions and actions.
We anticipate that these companies will be very attractive to impact investors, who seek to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.​
The Triple Bottom Line
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In addition to profits, Benefit Corporations are obligated to pursue objectives that benefit society, the corporation’s employees and the environment (a.k.a. the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profits).
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In other words, our Benefit Corporations will offer our equity investors not only a financial ROI, but also social and environmental ROIs on their investments.
PEOPLE
SOCIAL
PLANET
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROFIT
FINANCIAL
B Corps
Our for-profit Benefit Corporations are being established with structures and cultures designed to meet the criteria for certification as "B Corps."
To qualify as a B Corp, a for-profit company must “meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose."
B Corps use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems, and they drive "a global movement of people using business as a force for good."
Companies currently certified as B Corps include Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Patagonia outdoor apparel, North Coast Brewing Company, New Belgium Brewing Company, Bigelow Tea, Danone North America (Dannon Yogurt, Silk Oat Milk), and more than 3,600 other companies in 150 industries in 74 countries.
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According to conventional wisdom, business owners need to make a choice: either you can can make money or you can do good. However, there is growing recognition that you can do both.
First available in 2007, B Corp certification is increasingly attractive both to customers and to investors who understand that they can make money and make a difference.
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Sustainability
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In addition to meeting the B Corp criteria while providing a fair return on investment for the shareholders, our for-profit Benefit Corporations will commit to providing a share of their revenues to the nonprofit GTN in return for services provided to them by GTN, as well as through licensing agreements for intellectual property developed initially by the nonprofit.
These revenues will provide long-term support to assure sustainability of our nonprofit organization’s efforts to provide care for the underserved and underprivileged.
We believe that people who lead nonprofit organizations and create great value in advancing the Common Good should not be required to make substantial financial sacrifices. We anticipate that revenue streams from the for-profit partners will allow our nonprofit organization to offer competitive salaries that can attract the best and brightest executives and employees.
Our goal is for the revenue streams from the for-profit entities to cover all of the salaries and overhead for the nonprofit Global Telehealth Network so that it can soon demonstrate to funders that not only is the organization sustainable, but that 100% of each donation or grant will go to support programs for beneficiaries – not to overhead.
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