1) It's not profit generating, this is a not-for-profit organisation, so 'business model' is a bit of a loaded term.
2) The practice of having clubs / social groups where members are encouraged to donate money to help with the running costs is pretty common, and is not typically considered begging.
I help run a local theatre group which we fund with a whip-around with our members to assist with the venue hire and a donations bucket at the door of our to shows. Is that begging? I don't think so (I look at it as people giving money to keep something they enjoy experiencing running, which is different to begging).
"this is a not-for-profit organisation, so 'business model' is a bit of a loaded term"
This particular not-for-profit may have no business model, i.e. no revenue outside of donations.
But there are many not-for-profit entities that rely on services/fees (as opposed to donations) to fund their operations. For many of these non-profits, the main things that distinguish them from for-profit companies is that:
A) The founders don't get rich from an exit. They (and their cronies) get rich from buying their own services.
B) They can more easily get contracts from government entities that can for-profit companies. Because somehow people see outsourcing to for-profit companies as 'privatization', but outsourcing to non-profits as supporting the local economy.
Let's not grow this thing into something bigger than it is - it's effectively a nice book club focussed on philosophy, and which had 115 readers as of June last year.
It looks lovely, and looks like they have great growth, but let's not blow it out of proportion.
I was responding to part of your comment, which seemed to assert that "not-for-profit" is inconsistent with "business model".
I pointed out that many non-profits do have business models. But I was careful to point out that this may not apply to The Catherine Project ("This particular not-for-profit may have no business model, i.e. no revenue outside of donations.").
Sure, not for profits can have a business model. Apologies - I thought we were discussing in the context of the article.
But yeah, of course, anyone can have a business model including not for profits, I think it just implies something that is heavily formalised and 'bigger' than it is (even though a business model could technically just be as simple as 'get donations and spend it on a zoom subscription').
Even if one has no intention of making a profit, the accounting still has to be done, the books still have to balance, and there has to be enough revenue to cover the expenses.
Sure, you have to account for things (especially if you are a registered not for profit), but as long as Donations >= Expenses you don't really have to worry all that much about a 'business model'.
In fact, it often happens in reverse for these sorts of clubs/societies - Because the base expenses are very low (a £11.99 zoom account and to start with it is volunteer-led) rather than requiring enough revenue to cover expenses, you usually gather donations which let you spend money, and you don't spend money that hasn't already been donated. If less money gets donated, you can just slow down spending.
In terms of not for profits here we aren't talking about a company the size of Oxfam - we are talking about a reading group that has 12 volunteer hosts.
Profit generating is not the same as revenue generating. A non-profit can (and do) pay salaries to employees and directors, which is profit generating for those individuals.
Most universities in the US continually harass their former (tuition-paying) students for donations, which make up a large proportion of the budget (especially for more elite private universities - the less elite are more reliant on tuition and public universities on the state in addition).
Begging is a valid, profitable business model. Louis CK[1] and Radiohead[2] famously did it.
Although nonprofits don't get to retain profits or pay taxes on them, they can certainly earn a profit, which means there are thousands of organizations whose business model is begging. You may be interested to learn that the (supposedly) ultra-capitalist Ayn Rand Institute is among them.
So begging is your business model?