What’s in a Name? Bad News for “Nonprofits”
Tom Ruwitch / Sunday, January 24th, 2010 / No Comments »
Dan Pallotta's Uncharitable is Required Reading for Any BIG Charity
A few weeks ago, I spoke before a group of nonprofit administrators about how to raise money and market their organizations more effectively. I had recently given a similar presentation to for-profit marketing directors and was using those slides as the foundation for my speech to charities.
The “for-profit” presentation discussed how to move people through the “sales funnel” (from “cold lead,” to “prospect,” to “customer”), how to “maximize the lifetime value” of customers, and how to increase profits. As I prepared for the nonprofit administrators, I began to change the terms. I knew that many charity administrators don’t like terms like “customer” or “profit.” They run “nonprofits,” after all.
But I chose to keep those terms in the presentation, and when I spoke I emphasized this fact.
“You may hear me discuss some ideas that seem to come from the world of for-profit business. You’ll hear terms like ‘sales funnel,’ ‘customer,’ and ‘profit,’” I told them. “I know this makes some of you uncomfortable. But I have to say, with all due respect, please get over it. The point of my presentation today is that you have to apply tried and true business practices to your charity if you intend to survive and thrive in the 21st century.”
I thought about this presentation when reading a great blog post by Dan Pallotta: “Let’s Call it the Humanity Sector.”
Pallotta writes, “…the word ‘profit’ comes from the Latin noun profectus for ‘progress’ and the verb proficere for ‘to advance.’ Thus, ‘nonprofit’ means, etymologically, nonprogress.”
This is not some ivory-tower word game. Pallotta notes that nonprofits embrace rules and standards that hinder progress. They reject the competitive forces and best business practices that allow for-profits to thrive.
What’s in a name? A recipe for unrealized potential when it comes to “nonprofits.”
Rather than call them “nonprofits,” let’s call it the “humanity sector,” Pollotta writes. The blog post makes a great case for the name.
Pollatta has written an outstanding book that describes how nonprofits have created self-imposed barriers to success and what they can do to fix this. It’s called “Uncharitable – How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential.”
Next time I speak to administrators from the humanity sector, I plan to recommend the book. It’s high on Generation BIG’s recommended reading list.
