The business of nonprofits

By Rhonna Goodman
Westfaironline.com


A foundation runs into a cash flow problem so it delays dispersing grant money. A small organization that deals with homelessness doesn’t receive its expected funds in time to meet its payroll, and no bank will extend a line of credit. A dialysis center wants to open franchises but is worried about keeping up its high standards in remote locations. A well-respected religious-based organization has not done a careful analysis of its contributors and takes an extremely unpopular political stance. A local orchestra is not meeting its expenses and debates whether it should merge with the orchestra in a neighboring city. A city, in desperate need of money, wants to sell off the valuable art in its renowned museum.

All organizations in the independent sector want to change the world around them. They build social movements, they save lives; they make us creative, literate and cultured. They defend rights, the environment and the homeless. The people that work in nonprofits are passionate, committed and work for far less than those in for-profit companies. But as committed as the staff, the volunteers and the boards of nonprofits are, they need to be effective and not wasteful; they need to be vibrant and relevant to society; they need to use their money wisely; and they need to have well-structured internal organizations.


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