[Mel] Not for profit operations often operate less efficiently and squander any chance of surplus and returns less if anything to community.
[Krimel] This is not only wrong it is down right offensive. Non-profits tend to be mission driven. Unlike for profits they have a purpose for existing beyond the mundane profit motive. They have Values. Some non-profits like the Salvation Army, the Red Cross or even the Catholic Church have assets and annual budgets in the billions of dollars. Others like small business are run by well meaning people with high ideals and little administrative ability. Like entrepreneurs these too can fail. I have personally worked with a number of non-profits over the years. Their staff members tend to be dedicated and underpaid relative to the private sector. But many people find it satisfying when their work means something, when it helps others and advances Values other than profit. You talk about squandered surplus. Where does that come from? One of the problems I have seen in non-profits is that they have been slow to adopt technologies, that could improve efficiency, because they don't have surplus cash to invest in the technology or the support staff to maintain it. Many services provided by non-profits are the kinds of services that the private sector either can't or won't touch or when they do they botch the job. Homeless services for example are often provided by faith based non-profits in part because there is so little money available for this purpose that only the call of God can motivate people to tackle such tasks. You say, they return less, if anything to the community? My God man, please go to your local United Way office and ask about the services provided by their member organizations. Ask about the budget allocation process. Ask about the number served and the unmet need in your community. In fact or at least in theory the only difference between a private and non-profit organization is what happens to the "profits". In the private sector profits are dumped into the pockets of owners and investors. In non-profits surplus funds are reinvested into the mission of the organization. One might be so crass as to say the difference between the two is that non-profits are driven by and support a host of different human values. For profits value cash, often at the expense of every other human value. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
