In distinguishing between the three major
professional sectors - government, for-profit and non-profit - it may be
helpful to apply a lens of unmet societal needs. The government's role as a
social safety net and an institution accountable to the neediest members of
society has changed over time, as its members have responded to a general,
public desire to shrink the government's scope and constrain costs.
The for-profit role in serving as a safety net for society's neediest members has remained constant: the motivation to maintain a profitable, self-sustaining enterprise will always dominate for-profit decision-making, and any contribution toward a social good is only considered when money is sufficiently available. The scope of corporate responsibility, or the "obligation that goes beyond the individual to the firm as a whole" (Berman, p. 7), may be increasing, but the primary motivations of for-profit organizations are generally static. The non-profit sector has thus had to adapt to the evolving motivations of the public, government sector, and its importance has been steadily increasing over the past few decades as society's problems become more complex, and the people's willingness to assign public money and larger government responsibility shrinks. In this sense, do non-profits respond to an inherent failure of the governmental or for-profit sectors?
The for-profit role in serving as a safety net for society's neediest members has remained constant: the motivation to maintain a profitable, self-sustaining enterprise will always dominate for-profit decision-making, and any contribution toward a social good is only considered when money is sufficiently available. The scope of corporate responsibility, or the "obligation that goes beyond the individual to the firm as a whole" (Berman, p. 7), may be increasing, but the primary motivations of for-profit organizations are generally static. The non-profit sector has thus had to adapt to the evolving motivations of the public, government sector, and its importance has been steadily increasing over the past few decades as society's problems become more complex, and the people's willingness to assign public money and larger government responsibility shrinks. In this sense, do non-profits respond to an inherent failure of the governmental or for-profit sectors?
The answer will differ from person to person based
on political orientation. No matter one’s personal view on the size and scope
of the government’s social responsibility, there is no doubting that nonprofits
play a unique and important role in society. Non-profits have a unique
definition of success – they adhere closely to a given “Mission”, and their
activities are considered worthwhile and appropriate if and only if they constitute
progress towards the fulfillment of their Missions (Renz, p. 106). This strict
adherence to a given mission makes non-profits the ideal candidates for
tackling some of society’s more complex problems. In other words, the purity of
purpose which motivates non-profits is an appealing foundation for a sector
tasked with lifting-up the less fortunate.
Berman’s piece elucidates the “synergistic” nature
of the relationship between the three sectors: they are interdependent in many
ways, and the non-profit sector would likely collapse without support from the
capital-infused private sector and the government’s focus on public issues in
the aggregate (Berman p. 7). Berman later notes that “nonprofits allow other
sectors to focus on their principal purposes” (Berman p. 10), seeming to
ignore his earlier point about the interdependence of the sectors. Partnerships
which align profit from the private sector, public resources from the
government sector, and the sharp focus of the nonprofit sector are the wave of the
future. The National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPP) was
established in 1985 to “raise the awareness of governments and business of the
means by whih their cooperation can cost-effectively provide the public with
quality goods, services and facilities” (Ncppp.org). This effort to bring the
efficiencies and resources of all sectors into concert can only sharpen the
ability of each individual sector to ‘focus on their principal purposes’. Not
only should the government, non-profit and for-profit sectors root for each
other’s success, they should increasingly combine their efforts in the name of
efficiency and clarity of direction. Under such a model, each sector might find
that its overall capacity is much larger than previously thought, and progress
towards remedying society’s ills is not as difficult as it once seemed.
References:
Berman, Howard J. Doing “Good” vs. Doing “Well”: The Role of Nonprofits in Society. The
McNerney Forum: Spring
2002.
Renz, David O. The
Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. San
Francisco: Jossey Bass,
2010.
