December 23, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
As Christmas approaches, it seems there’s one gift the philanthropy world would like: to replace the word “nonprofit.”
“Anyone who has thought about it for more than a nanosecond agrees that ‘nonprofit’ is about the worst possible summary we could give of ourselves and our work,” writes Dan Pallotta, a former fund raiser and author of Uncharitable, who is the latest person to suggest a substitute for the word.
On his Harvard Business Review blog, Mr. Pallotta floats the phrase “humanity sector.”
“What brings us to this work is our humanity,” he writes. “And what makes the work happen is the generosity of countless people from all socioeconomic levels, who make donations out of their humanity.”
In recent years other ideas have been tossed around. They include:
- Social-profit groups — suggested by Claire Gaudiani, a philanthropy professor at New York University.
- Delta sector — floated by Robert K. Ross, president of the California Endowment.
- Community-benefit organizations — recommended by Hildy Gottlieb, a charity consultant.
- Social-enterprise — offered by Sean Stannard-Stockton, a donor advisor and regular contributor to The Chronicle.
Mr. Pallotta also considers third sector, independent sector, and social sector, but dismisses them.
“With those choices, we’d be better off sticking with nonprofit,” he writes. “If we’re going to be noncommittal, we might as well be committed about it.”
What do you think? What phrase works best? Click on the comment button below to share your views.
