Its All in a Word

Sometimes the words we choose to describe something have a big effect on how people perceive different issues. We in the social sector need to stop using the words "nonprofit," "charity, " and "donation."

All the term non-profit denotes is the lack of profit generated in the sector. It doesn't begin to touch on all the positive things that the sector does create. Additionally the term "non-profit" no longer accurately describes a number of organizations that are providing social good in our society. Increasingly social sector organizations are creating for-profit income streams or even registering as for-profit entities to support their missions. Charity is also a dirty word in my opinion and is suggestive of an organization that requires a handout. Social sector organizations are not down on your luck organizations that require the largesse of donors. Social sector organizations are providing value. Rather than referring to donations, we should refer to investments. We are helping the people who choose to invest in our organizations create the type of world we all want to live in. Our work may not always return a profit in terms of money, but it certainly does create value in terms of our collective quality of life.

What Makes a Social Sector Organization Great?

I just finished reading "Good to Great and the Social Sector" written by Jim Collins, the author of the classic managment book, "Good to Great." In this monograph, Jim Collins points out the societal need to stop judging social sector organizations by their inputs and starting judging them by their outputs. In other words, we should just stop measuring whether a nonprofit is succesful by how little they spend on their staff costs and start measuring a nonprofit's success by how well the organization delivers on its mission.

Nonprofits should be able to invest in the infrastructure of their organization by purchasing items like new computers or professional development experiences for their staff without invoking the ire of their donors. Only when we measure a nonprofit's success by its results will we will truly start getting the results from a nonprofit that we as donors expect.