Business/Non-profits

When I think of non-profits partnering with corporations, I cannot see it other than a “good guy/bad guy” relationship, because I am used to thinking of business as BIG GREEDY business, and non-profits as small, vulnerable, and kind. In my mind, non-profits are like my clients who are of low socio-economic background and from minority cultures; they are marginalized and vulnerable in the current state of our world, they need “help” in order to survive, and there are strings attached to any funds they receive. And companies who partner with non-profits would not do so if they couldn’t fulfill their mission, which is to make a profit. So around the world we have altruistic non-profits with great ideas, competent leaders, and motivated staff trying to fill a societal need. They lack only funding, and this forces them to go where the money is: corporations whose motivation is profit. The benefit of partnership for the large corporation is that they have an additional avenue to advertise, and a chance to polish their image and appeal to consumers’ consciences. This leads to McDonald’s, and Coke, which contribute to health problems, and Walmart, which has economically decimated small towns’ economies, becoming stronger and doing more “damage,” while at the same time listing themselves as contributors to social welfare.

However, not all not-for-profits are vulnerable and marginalized. NPR is an example of a non-profit which reached a point of funding stability and now raises the question: How can non-profits get support from corporations and still be eligible for public funds? NPR has grown large and powerful due to its growing list of corporate partners, and is under scrutiny because it has benefited from partnership with business. Those partners are promoting their business and making a statement every time they support a program on NPR, and they are reaching a target audience. In what way is that different from MSNBC or Fox News and their advertisers? How can NPR resist the temptation to present programming that will garner more funding?

Personally, I listen to NPR all the time, but these questions do come up for me, and I know there are more corporate supporters of various programming every year.