Why Nonprofits Have to Make Money

Why Nonprofits Have to Make Money

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[buckybarnes]

I'm on the supply side of nonprofits as a graphic designer. Sometimes they cry poor to me on the budget, while other times they have plenty of money to work with, especially if they obtain a grant, but that's not normally the case. They are more conscious about their budgets, but at the same time it's business as usual when you compare them to the for-profit companies I work with.

[pollynicklas]

A woman who ran a non profit food bank bought my mom's old victorian house in a prestigious restored neighborhood! Was a good paying job I guess - big business in that sort of thing!

[rizmacadillac]

Good points and good video. I don't know why I would be more excited about work simply because the organization was "Non-Profit". I was asked by my University to run a small business which was part of the University and it was non-profit. The woman who ran this before me was doing about $50.00 a week in business if I recall correctly. I visited her office several times and one thing I noticed is that I would come during operating hours and it was never open. People might assume the place was closed and nobody bothered to remove the sign. So I believe motivating people is a huge issue... or maybe she took "non-profit" very seriously and thought that losing money was a badge of Honor. Because it was operated in a very sloppy manner and not being operated correctly but simply not a valid business I decided to take the risk for the sake of my education. Universities are good places to meet great people. I think we grew eventually to over $700 and I believe this was a weekly figure but my memory on this is foggy and I'd have to check figures. But work is work and I definitely treated this like a for-profit enterprise and used profits as a standard and as part of my model. But as you point out some religious people are attracted to non-profits and I've seen people who would like to be that Widow with her mite when it comes to earning money. They believe being poor is somehow a sign of piety. God sounds like an interesting dude to me and I'm figuring he'd much rather spend time with John Rockefeller or George Washington than some guy who thinks his efforts make his money like that of a widow's mite.

[tate]

I think it's a very delicate balance to run a non-profit, you have to look poor enough to need the support that comes from grants and public donations, while not so poor that you're doing a bad job or unable to achieve your mission with those donations. God forbid you outwardly look like you're doing well, the public will crucify you for wasting money.

[rosejones]

I would pay those teachers market. Teachers are known to be underpaid and they may quit to just to do anything else. You don't want your trained teachers leaving to sell cars because they want to get ahead do you? And I would let the parents and other staff know you support the teachers. It is like supporting nurses in a hospital.