About
Your executive director comes back from a conference convinced the nonprofit should run more like a business. You roll your eyes and think “we’ve been down this road before.” We know the argument. Yes, nonprofits are technically businesses, but our bottom line is impact not profit. The current conversation pits these two standpoints against each other.
But, new research says the business-versus-mission framing is the wrong one. Nonprofits don’t run on two competing values, they run on several at once, from mission to money to professional standards to faith. It turns out, the organizations that thrive aren’t the ones that pick a winner. They’re the ones that integrate.
In this episode we dive into a study of six nonprofits, three that combined their competing values productively and three that didn’t. We discuss the four elements that separated them and what to do with all of this information in your own nonprofit.
But, new research says the business-versus-mission framing is the wrong one. Nonprofits don’t run on two competing values, they run on several at once, from mission to money to professional standards to faith. It turns out, the organizations that thrive aren’t the ones that pick a winner. They’re the ones that integrate.
In this episode we dive into a study of six nonprofits, three that combined their competing values productively and three that didn’t. We discuss the four elements that separated them and what to do with all of this information in your own nonprofit.