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Monday, March 7, 2011

Are they really separated?

The reading topic of this is quite interesting for me: make market work. There is a sentence in the book I couldn't agree more:

...nonprofits harness market forces and leverage the resources and power of business to have more impact than they could alone.

It reminds me a conversation in my Foundation of Public Service course last week. When we talked about government tax policy and contracts with corporations, I said the government need to keep flexible to meet all kinds of social and economic affairs. Corporations create more job opportunities, as the payoff, they are always provided with tax preferences and other advantages. The same to non-profit organizations. With different mission, what is the best relationship between them and for-profit organizations?

The article Nonprofit Paradox: For-Profit Business Models in the Third Sector (The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law, Volume 6, Issue 2, January 2004, http://www.icnl.org/knowledge/ijnl/vol6iss2/special_7.htm) also raise an issue on whether non-profit could learn how for-profit organizations' strategy. I think it is quite interesting. The reading focuses on how to have more power with non-profit mission, while this article focuses on how to learn from business. As a person with 4-years business study experience and zero non-profit experience, I used to separate those two kinds of organization. But the truth is if they two cooperate with each other, they will create a better world. Definitely!

Finally, I have a question about the reading. The author lists three main ways to leverage business: changing business practices, partnering with business, and running a business. The first two are relatively easy for big non-profit organizations, but the last one may bring one more risk: mission-drift, especially for small organizations. Do you have examples about this issue?

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