Whenever I mention that I am looking for work in a nonprofit, people usually get confused as to what a nonprofit organization really is. There are two questions that I get asked all the time regarding the subject:
1. What does a nonprofit do?
and
2. Do you have to work for free?
A former boss was appalled that I’d put in so much time and effort into my graduate education simply to volunteer for the rest of my life. How on earth was I going to put food on the table working at a nonprofit?
To give a sterile definition, a nonprofit organization is one whose focus is something other than pursuing profits. Most nonprofit organizations are geared towards providing some sort of service or benefit to the public, and while it may not be their reason for existence, yes, they do need to make money. A puzzled colleague of mine countered my explanation asking, “Then… Why is it called a nonprofit?”
The problem is that the term “nonprofit” is misleading. Every nonprofit organization needs to make some sort of income to cover operating costs, fund new programs and incentives while keeping current ones going, pay its employees, etc. Funding is actually a hot topic in the nonprofit world, and, especially given today’s market, grant writers and development associates have their work cut out of them!
Hildy Gottlieb of the Community Driven Institute suggests using the term “community benefit organizations” in lieu of “nonprofits”. In her own words:
The term Community Benefit Organization states what we are. It is a term that powerfully and boldly focuses on our reason for being.
- BlogHer
In a recent Connecting Women interview, Gottlieb places the term “nonprofit” in a category with archaic terminology that was acceptable once upon a time. While I feel that her analogy was a stretch, I agree with her rationale and feel as though community benefit organization is a better, more accurate term. It shifts the focus away from the profit aspect (or perceived lack thereof) and toward the main focus of these organizations: benefiting the community. Let’s rethink our language; we shouldn’t focus on what these organizations aren’t.
