WEEK 9:  What is 

 

Main Ideas and Topics of the Week:

Nonprofit organizations are a main source addressing social issues. However, they are expected to solve these issues without using resources for anything except the specific problem leaving no money for overheard. Many non-profits have had to shut their doors because of the lack of growth or bad press for using for profit tactics to generate more revenue. This leaves the nonprofit sector at a pivotal crossroad: innovate or die.

Dan Pallotta explained, “The for-profit sector, the more value you produce, the more money you can make. But we don't like nonprofits to use money to incentivize people to produce more in social service. We have a visceral reaction to the idea that anyone would make very much money helping other people. Interestingly, we don't have a visceral reaction to the notion that people would make a lot of money not helping other people.”

Using the ideas and practices of social innovation, nonprofits can solve their systemic problems and once again became a strong force.

Reflection:

This week I enjoyed watching the Ted Talk by Dan Pallotta called “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong.” One statement that really got me thinking was when he said, “You know, you want to make 50 million dollars selling violent video games to kids, go for it. We'll put you on the cover of Wired magazine. But you want to make half a million dollars trying to cure kids of malaria, and you're considered a parasite yourself.”

If we want the non-profit sector to thrive like the for-profit industry, we have to start accepting the idea of non-profits following market standards of for-profit successful businesses. 

Writing Prompt:

Discuss how you can use this lesson as a nonprofit volunteer, donor, board member, or employee?

 

If I become a board member to a non-profit organization the first thing I want to make sure the rest of the board understands is that using funds on overhead will benefit the non-profit in the long run.  I would use the examples used in the Ted Talk by Dan Pallotta called “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong.” I think by sharing real examples of successes and failures the board as a whole can make more informed decisions that can help the company grow and even thrive.

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