Most research on business models focuses on their role as description of what the firm does to grow and increase profits. However, by definition and nature, nonprofit organizations are different from for-profit organizations since their ultimate goal is to create societal value. Building on the Bourdieusian theory of forms of capital (i.e. economic, social, cultural and symbolic), the aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework to define a business model for non-profit organizations that highlights the fundamental mechanisms underlying the creation of societal value and its capture. We propose that the societal value creation and capture in the business model relies on the capability of a nonprofit organization to accumulate and convert complementary forms of economic, social, cultural and symbolic capital. To illustrate our theoretical framework, we build on the case study of Doctors without Borders (MSF).
