Nonprofits vs. Business: Collaborators or Competitors in the Social Space?

Why does the business sector think they have a new cure for the ills of society, nicely repackaged and repurchased under the new and trendy title of "social entrepreneurship"? The nonprofit sector is entirely mission focused, entirely driven by doing good will for others. The business sector, for necessity, is driven by a profit motive even though of course they could do good with their money or their company's money. I certainly commend this!

Nonprofit management programs teach the basic management functions of human resource management, marketing, communications, accounting etc. The unique thing is that we do all of this within the context of how the nonprofit sector is regulated and structured in the U.S. and around the world.

A nonprofit is a business type, organized under the IRS tax code, which does make it unique and separate from the for-profit sector. Business schools don't "own" good management. Good management is good management. Business schools absolutely own management practices within the for-profit sector, where stakeholder profit maximization makes total sense.

I love the broader idea that we need the business sector, the government sector, and the nonprofit sector to address large social issues like poverty and education. No question.

But to suggest that social entrepreneurs, defined by the business school, will or can do this alone is short sighted. Nonprofit educators and leaders have already done a great deal about large social issues, and very successfully.

Let's work together, the for-profit and the nonprofit management schools, to bring our greatest strengths together.

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