My local incarnation, BARN[0][1] is a financially sustainable nonprofit. However, we wouldn't be sustainable as a for-profit company, certainly not if we had investors chasing a return.
[0] bainbridgebarn.org
[1] Disclosure: I'm the executive director and deeply in love with this place. Happy to connect to share our experiences with anyone seriously considering a similar path.
We are also a financially sustainable nonprofit. I'm convinced that's the only long term viable way to do a makerspace that targets hobbyists and small businesses/craftspeople.
Yeah I share that conviction. This space is less about creating value and capturing a part of it than creating community (though done well the value created by a thriving community _is_ substantial). And for reasons I've only partially grokked, many people are willing to contribute to a community backed by a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation but not a regular corporation.
2. It makes them feel that they have done something good by donating to an educational foundation.
Note that not all tax-exempt nonprofits are 501(c)(3) educational foundations. You need that for the donation to be deductible for the donor.