Non-Profits are Businesses Too!
Posted by Mike on
July 25, 2008
I spend a lot of time convincing people they need to create a business that actually makes a profit rather than just making salaries the ultimate goal. Today, I want to take a break from business profitability to talk about non-profit organizations.
Small non-profits are much like small businesses of any kind. Plumbers, and not business people, start plumbing companies. People with a passion to help the poor start shelters- not business people. Yet both of these types of organizations have to deal with the realities of running a business every day. It is easy to convince the plumber that he needs to run his company like a real business. The non-profit founder, however, usually hesitates to think of his organization like a business. “I just want to feed and clothe the poor- not run a business and make money!”
The problem with that line of thinking is simple. It takes money to feed and clothe the poor. Unless you are providing all that money yourself, it has to come from other people, businesses, and government programs. Raising that money takes marketing. Keeping donors happy means financial accountability and wise spending decisions. Getting government dollars means searching for opportunities and writing grant proposals that follow the plethora of rules and regulations. All of these things make your homeless shelter look a whole lot more like a business.
The Maine PR Maven, Nancy Marshall, blogged about a presentation she is giving to the Maine Association of Non-Profits. As a marketing and PR expert for businesses all over Maine, Nancy is able to give non-profits valuable advice about how to communicate their message to the public. Her blog outlines the basics of a communications plan. As I expected, it looks very similar to a communications plan for a for-profit company. The rules don’t change much for a non-profit.
In college, I majored in small business management and marketing. But i also had a non-profit concentration. For as long as I can remember liking business, I have enjoyed getting into the inner-workings of non-profits to help them succeed. The founders never like thinking of raising money as sales, but it is. You still have target donors and you still have to communicate your message to those potential donors. Doing that involves all the same things as a successful marketing campaign.
Bottom Line: Run your non-profit organization more like a business, and you will ultimately be able to do more for your cause.
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