The main goal of an NFP is not necessarily to do good, but to do something within a specific scope. Just what that something is varies from group to group. NFP is just another business model, it doesn’t automatically convey moral superiority upon the organization or its cause. The main difference between private sector and an NFP is that in a private sector company, money is usually the main goal, and providing a good product is a close second. An NFP just says that the product or service fulfilling the specific scope has to be the main goal. What that product or service is can be just about anything.
A lot of politically active groups are NFPs. Your state and local chambers of commerce are NFPs. Any time you see an association or trade group, they’re an NFP. I worked for an association whose goal was to foster a beneficial environment for business in the state of Florida. Other associations in my state I have worked with have similar goals for their own specific industry, whether it’s health care, banking, construction, agriculture, insurance, retail industries, or any other type of private sector interest. They certainly aren’t charities, but they are structured to operate from the money that comes in from membership and fundraising efforts. Because they are set up to represent the needs of a wide group of people, they have used the NFP business model to ensure that the dollars spent by their members are re-invested in their members’ interests. It’s really one of the compelling reasons for becoming a member in the first place.
I don’t understand why in so many peoples minds NFP always equals charity or good cause.
Wow - we have a lot more NFP here than I thought! I work for the national office one of the largest “To Do Good” orgs in the US.
**Tomcat ** and **XJETGIRLX ** make some really good points. This is why one should always be fully informed before making a donation to any charitible cause or event. The Better Business Bureau keeps track of us. Check and see what they say first. Here’s a link to the BBB Wise Giving Alliance reports. You want to make sure that if you give us a dollar, at least 75 cents is spent on “the cause,” and not on pverhead (my salary, keeping the lights on, trips to the Bahamas, etc.). Any reputable organization will also sen you their financial reports without question. That public information.
The salary issue depends on the organization. Logically, local offices have less to spend on salary than national offices, and larger NFPs have higher salaries than small ones. Sure, I’d be making more in the FP world, but not astronomically more. Anamika, I interviewed a few months back for the national office of the group you for – it was a reasonable & competitive salary.
I think even regional offices of some companies have decent salaries - I know my salary is fairly competitive for our small, local office, and I’ve been quite happy with it. I’m also with one of the larger NFPs, though, and in a very successful regional area in terms of fundraising - we have one of the highest rates of success in the nation in our organization. Even with competitive salaries, our administrative costs are extremely low. So it’s certainly possible to do both, not upset the ‘customers’ because of higher administrative costs, and pay employees a living wage.
There was something I wondered. When searching craigslist job listings I always noticed that the NFP/NP businesses preferred someone who had previous NFP/NP experience so they “know and are okay with what working at one entails.” I imagined that unless one was part of the higher-ups that it wasn’t much different from a regular job (say, if you applied for an admin position), so that always mystified me. What’s that ‘thing’ it entails? A general contentment with asking people for money? A willingness to accept less financial compensation? Some kind of specific network or paperwork?
What it basically boils down to is that they will ask you to do anything and everything, whether it’s in your job description or not, and expect you to be ok with it. One day you may be answering phones or greeting visitors, another you may be ordering office supplies or making deliveries, and yet another you may be expected to help draft a proposal or press release, man the phones for fundraising solicitations, organize meetings or events, make travel arrangements, or create presentations. And you won’t get paid nearly what these types of duties would get you paid elsewhere. Not to say you won’t be rewarded or paid well, it just won’t be as much as a job in the private sector that specialized in just one of those things.
Actually, the Church of Satan has refused tax-exempt, non-profit status. Just thought you might wanna know.
Doing a little bit of digging, I found that most nonprofits have a charter of some sort - think religious organizations, charities, Boy Scouts, et cetera - wheras a not-for-profit entity is essentially a business that can’t be sold outright and where the profits don’t get pocketed by an owner, but are messed with by a Board of Directors. That sounds a little fishy to me. Anyway, I think it depends on state law as well as federal stuff. In Nevada we don’t have taxes except for sales tax and a few other things that don’t really affect me, but they, for some reason, have both a nonprofit and a not-for-profit designation, in two separate areas of the tax law thingies (can you tell I’m not good with tax laws?).
So, depending on the locality, nonprofit and not-for-profit are different, or the same.
It’s easy to say my administrative assistant pay matches what other AA’s get paid, but the truth is the AA part of my job is only part of it. I have a million other things to do that are not part of my job description, tasks change from day to day and minute to minute, I am expected to pick up any slack, etc., etc.
Note that they aren’t comprehensive–I think they are a complaint-driven organization, so if nobody’s complained about your group to the BBB, you won’t have a report with them. (It may be inquiry-based, not complaint-based; I do know that the 30-person NFP I work for isn’t listed there).
If you’re thinking about giving significant money to a NFP that’s not listed through the BBB, consider asking for a copy of their annual report. Unless the NFP is tiny, the lack of an annual report is a very bad sign: it shows a poor level of organization with them, and you might want to find someone who has their ducks in a row. The annual report should contain an audited financial statement. You can also check out www.guidestar.org–you’ll need to login for complete access, but they’ve got raw data on most (if not all) registered nonprofits in the US.
