Mark Morrell of the British Internet giant, BT, posted a blog today describing how BT makes money on its corporate intranet.

One income stream is advertising, which Morrell says brings in, "...several hundred thousands of pounds each year." The other is a deal with Yahoo. If BT intranetters click a Yahoo search link on the BT intranet, BT participates in the income from any "paid search" ads that are clicked on the Yahoo site. Obviously, BT is a huge company.

This would be a great way for non-profits to make a little extra money. A members-only section of the non-profit could set up all kinds of affiliate deals. For example travel, books, vitamins seem seem like reaonable purchases for members of the local symphony guild. When a member clicks through and makes a purchase, the guild pockets a commission.

Non-profits can appeal to the charitable side of its benefactors in a way that a for-profit company could not and thus perhaps generate more sales than other organizations.

Problem is: most non-profits don't have intranets or even know what one is.