Companies discover that focusing on charity and profits at the same time is just good business.
Tossing a buck or 2,000 toward her favorite charitable organizations just didn't do it for Jillian Manus. So when she joined her mother's already-established literary agency 15 years ago, she decided to overhaul the business plan a bit. Now, about 80 percent of Manus & Associates Literary Agency's profits - at least $500,000 per year - go to support literacy and education efforts, women's issues, and other groups. "It was the thought that instead of just writing checks from my own funds, I could generate more money for charity with the business," says Manus, the company's president.

When she first set out, Manus didn't have a model for what she wanted to do. "I made it up because my ability to give was limited," she says. When she was considering making the move to her mother's firm, she "was just thinking that in my next job I wanted to love what I do and give as much as I can." Luckily, Mom bought into the plan. "She was always philanthropic," Manus says of her mother, Janet Wilkens Manus.

All of the charities are handpicked by Jillian Manus, although her employees are encouraged to suggest places that could use a bit of help. A large portion of the funds the company hands out goes to a set list of organizations, including the Bring Me a Book Foundation and College Track, but about 10 percent is held back as a flexible give to be used on an as-needed basis.

At Manus & Associates, the literary agents get a commission from the 15 percent fee the agency collects when they sell a book to a publisher. Another piece of the fee goes to overhead, and the rest goes to nonprofits, says Manus, adding, "We never show a profit because we're not profitable." But don't mistake not-profitable with not-serious: Manus was the agency behind such big books as The One Minute Millionaire and Cane River (yes, the same book Oprah chose for her Book Club). "We sell 99 percent of the projects we take on," Manus says.