There seems to be an endless list of myths about nonprofit businesses and the nonprofit sector – and a few of them really make my blood boil.
Yes yes, it’s true. I am a fiercely loyal advocate for nonprofit leaders but I am not close to naive about their challenges.
But here’s a myth that really drives me nuts:
Nonprofit businesses are not as well run as for profit companies.
Are you kidding me right now?
Corporate America is the holy grail? Holy smokes. It’s a pretty cold day in hell when we can say THAT with a straight face.
Just talk to organizational expert Jim Collins – you know, the “Good to Great” author — he will say that while some business concepts apply, many don’t actually apply to the nonprofit sector. It’s an entirely different ballgame when profit is not the motive and when meaning and purpose are.
I came from corporate America into the nonprofit sector and learned as many gems about leadership and management from the nonprofit model as I brought with me from my corporate executive gig.
It is time to STOP with the nonprofit vs for profit comparisons.
Time to stop belittling the nonprofit leaders as well-meaning folks (“God love em” is what my mother would say) and see the sector for what it is — a vital cornerstone of every town and state…of every civil society. In fact, it is these organizations that make our society civil.
Here are five additional myths. Let’s tease them out. What you will find interesting is the extent to which nonprofit leaders themselves perpetuate some of these.
Let’s make it our business not just to debunk them but to escort them to the door.