The Oscars as social enterprise

Whenever I hear about the revolutionary innovation of social entrepreneurship, one of the first things that always comes to mind is the Oscars. Jump over to Guidestar sometime and you'll see why. The Academy is a nonprofit trade association exempt from taxation under 501(c)(6), and, as is common, it has a related 501(c)(3). Each year the Academy makes 50 mil+ tax free from licensing the broadcast rights to Oscars, more than enough to fund the Academy's promotion of the movie industry and the charity's own work.

Which isn't to say that social enterprise isn't significant--just that folks haven't figured out why.