Social Enterprise (Social Entrepreneurship)

I recently came across an article on-line the other day that was talking about social entrepreneurship and the non-profit sector.  I thought this quote was really interesting I found on the website :  http://www.managementhelp.org/soc_entr/soc_entr.htm, “Nonprofits have to recognize that they’re businesses, not just causes. There’s a way to combine the very best of the not-for-profit, philanthropic world with the very best of the for-profit, enterprising world. This hybrid is the wave of the future for both profit and nonprofit companies.”

I never really looked at non-profits as being a business but, I guess if they want to succeeded then that’s what they have to make themselves.   It’s hard to have a “caring” mind-set, and a business mind set at the same time. I think this could be dangerous in a way because if you want people to think you are working for a good cause and you want them to donate money, you cannot deal with that as a business transaction.

I think that Social Entrepreneurship, can help any non-profit. But, not all non-profits need their help. Sometimes I think it will hurt them in the long run.

Non Profits as Businesses

It is true that non profits should be treated like businesses by the government, as stated in the article mentioned in the previous post.  By limiting administrative costs the government truly does create lesser products, just as seen in the for profit world.  However, with the good comes the bad.  As also stated in the article, non profits are being seen more as businesses in that they are expected to produce short term success (like their quarterly counterparts in the business world), but non profits simply do not work like this.  In my internship with a non profit over the past summer, I was shocked to learn that we had very specific goals throughout the year and that we gave such a large percentage to the national office.  I’m sure there are business plans and reasons for doing this, but I was very naive and thought that local fund raisers created local money for programs and local research.  I had no idea we had certain minimums and deadlines to be affiliated and continue operations.

In the end, it will be the government’s responsibility to allow for more work room in non profits and the public’s responsibility to see that larger administrative costs are not the end of the world.  To solve the problems facing the world, non profit organizations must have the budget to create and maintain a strong staff that is committed to the long-term, instead of constant turn over as employees seek money in the for-profit world and non profits are left to struggle.