Strategic Online Communication for Nonprofits

Posts Tagged ‘social profit’

We speak so much about “nonprofits” and all the great work done by the sector, but few of us pause to reflect on the nature of the term we’re using– and how it might even be undermining our work!

I was reminded of this in a recent meeting with the Executive Director of the Albuquerque Community Foundation, Randy Royster, who corrected my use of the term “nonprofit” and urged me to replace it with “social profit”.

But of course!!!  I had never even stopped to think about it.  How can we call the tireless, dedicated work of this sector “nonprofit” when so many people ultimately benefit from it?

In many other countries this same sector is referred to as “organizaciones sin fines de lucro” or “organisations sans but lucratif” (literally “organizations without lucrative goals/ends”) which somehow seems to do a bit more justice to the nature of the work by setting it apart from the many who seek to profit financially from their work.

By contrast “nonprofit” simply sounds like no one benefits.

After working for years with international social profit organizations outside the U.S. I had never even heard of the “nonprofit” vs “social profit” debate.

I did a google search of “social profit” and found an excellent article by Claire Gaudiani in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, that does justice to the issue.  She outlines the implications of such a name change for the sector, as well as for the “social investors” who support it.

I also saw that several organizations have adopted the term, but unfortunately those are few and far between– most of the sector continues to use “nonprofit”.

Great food for thought.  Let’s start making the transition to “social profit” and give our sector a boost!

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder