# Non-profit: what the hell?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 12, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084 "2000-08-12T06:26:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![madd1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@madd1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madd1)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084/1 "2000-08-12T06:26:05Z")

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Former “Non-Profit” agencies are now “Not-For-Profit” agencies. Why is this?  
Was Non-profit non-PC for some reason?

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**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084/2 "2000-08-12T06:42:21Z")

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I believe (and I am usually wrong) that it is because “non-profit” implies the organization does not make any money, when in fact the people running the thing are getting paid. They only have to spend like 10% on their actual goal. Ridiculous if you ask me.  
“Not-for-profit” makes more sense, whether it is more PC or not I am not sure. I think this suggests that the organization is not created to make a profit, but consequently, they do. I think this is a more accurate term.

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084/3 "2000-08-12T10:08:23Z")

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I always thought:

Non-profit: we don’t make a profit

Not-for-profit: We may make a profit, in which case it will be reinvested in The Cause

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084/4 "2000-08-12T13:04:11Z")

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There is no real legal difference between the two, though not-for-profit is preferred and somewhat more formal.

The main difference between a nonprofit and a profit-making enterprise is that a nonprofit cannot use profits to pay stockholders or any other form of ownership. In addition, nonprofits can’t pay their board members (though they can pay employees, but employees can’t serve on the board).

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**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-profit-what-the-hell/29084/5 "2000-08-12T16:16:30Z")

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I work for a non-profit organization, the government funding we receive and the monies we raise through different activities are put back into the programs that we run. We cannot hold any surplus funding dollars and these extra dollars are paid out to the staff at the end of the fiscal year as small bonuses. We are allowed to retain monies derived from fundraising and use those monies where they are needed.