Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • September 2021
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Worldreader: Helping Readers Build a Better World

By: Marco Bertini, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:23
ShareBar

Abstract

Founded in 2010, Worldreader was an international nonprofit organization that promoted reading to children around the world. For many years, Worldreader distributed e-readers to under-resourced communities and funded its operations primarily through philanthropic donations. In 2019, Worldreader launched the BookSmart mobile reading application, and soon thereafter came the idea of a new, self-perpetuating funding structure: the “flywheel.” Worldreader aimed to charge schools and community-based organizations a $6 annual subscription fee per child to use BookSmart, with the goal of using earned revenue to sustain operational costs and using philanthropy to cover other strategic priorities. However, Worldreader soon realized that ability to pay varied greatly among potential “customers,” leading to several exceptions to the initial price. The team also worried that the subscription hindered achieving scale and conflicted with Worldreader’s ultimate goal of impacting millions of children. As Co-Founder and CEO David Risher and his team prepared for an upcoming meeting with UNICEF, which typically sought fixed-price contracts, they considered whether a price per-child, per-month would be acceptable. More broadly, they considered whether they had landed on the optimal price point and funding strategy—and the potential implications of pursuing earned revenue on Worldreader’s ability to bid for international development grants.

Keywords

Subscription Model; Price; Financial Strategy; Education; Early Childhood Education; Learning; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Goals and Objectives; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Markets; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Social Issues; Strategy; Commercialization; Expansion; Segmentation; Education Industry; Africa; Asia; Latin America; Europe; North and Central America; South America

Citation

Bertini, Marco, Elie Ofek, and Julia Kelley. "Worldreader: Helping Readers Build a Better World." Harvard Business School Case 522-003, September 2021.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Elie Ofek

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2025
    • Faculty Research

    AI and Brand Management: Promises and Perils

    By: Julian De Freitas and Elie Ofek
    • May 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Eat App: Building and Monetizing an End-to-End Dining Experience Solution Spreadsheet Supplement

    By: Elie Ofek
    • May 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Eat App: Building and Monetizing an End-to-End Dining Experience Solution

    By: Elie Ofek and Sarah Mehta
More from the Authors
  • AI and Brand Management: Promises and Perils By: Julian De Freitas and Elie Ofek
  • Eat App: Building and Monetizing an End-to-End Dining Experience Solution Spreadsheet Supplement By: Elie Ofek
  • Eat App: Building and Monetizing an End-to-End Dining Experience Solution By: Elie Ofek and Sarah Mehta
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.