Profit Is Not the Way Charities Should Measure Success

To the Editor:

The beginning was the one heartening point in “A Key Lesson Business Can Teach Charities,” (My View, September 18). The author, Jerr Boschee, recounted the story of someone listening to his presentation about the wonders of corporatizing nonprofits. She walked out describing his theory as “evil.” At least there are still nonprofit executives with the integrity and foresight to reject this suicidal path.

There is a place in this world for government, a place for business, and a place for civil society. But not if you listen to the Chamber of Commerce and their boosters who would have us believe that business and business practices are the only things that can truly benefit the people of the world with supposed superior efficiency, accountability, and yes, even moral superiority. Wake up. MCI? Enron? Every single shortsighted and money-hungry financial institution that has created the current financial crisis?

“Profit over all” is not the model to foist on the institutions of the world that are doing the real work to make everyone’s lives better — institutions that must remain accountable and effective every day. Profit is a fine measure of business success, but it should never be the first measure of success in civil society.

The author points to the multimillion-dollar profit of one health-care organization as proof that it is successful. Wait just a minute. Are the people in that community healthier as a result of that organization? The author sees no need to address that issue. He believes the fact that they have raked in the dough is enough to prove they are successful.

In this writer’s opinion, it is precisely that drive for profit across the entire health-care “industry” that has caused the life span of the average American to drop for the first time in our nation’s history while citizens in other countries with civilized health care have longer life spans. No number of “success” stories will hide that stark fact. I can remember when hospitals were routinely run by governments and charities, but that was back when Americans had virtually the highest standard of health care in the world.

I am not bashing corporations or their central place in society. Profit has an essential place in the successful operation of the world. But to use profit as the only or best measure of success when your goal is to leave the world better than you found it is the road to disaster. I can’t say it better than the brave and intelligent woman who walked out of the presentation. “This is the most evil thing I’ve ever heard.”

Lane Brooks
Chief Operating Officer
Food & Water Watch
Washington

To the Editor:

While Jerr Boschee’s suggestion that nonprofits can learn from the business sector is well taken, we at the Doe Fund do not believe the author is correct in his generalization that most nonprofits are not interested in becoming self-reliant through earned revenue. The evidence is abundant, from crowded social-enterprise conferences to the inquiries we receive daily on how to develop such businesses, that nonprofits of all kinds are eager to create their own earned-income activities. In our opinion, most of the reluctance from boards or staff is often the result of confusion over legal structures and whether an organization currently has the skills to enter into business, not from a “fear of profit.”

The Doe Fund founded the Ready, Willing & Able program in 1990 on an entrepreneurial framework. We operate business ventures in order to provide transitional paid work and vocational training to formerly homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals re-entering the work force. We serve over 1,000 individuals every day and generate over $15-million in income from our business activities. In addition, several of our enterprises improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers.

Assuming that most nonprofits have “profit phobia” is not helpful. It would be more useful in these pages for Mr. Boschee to inspire successful innovation in the nonprofit sector by providing specific and concrete information to nonprofit leaders about how to effectively run social enterprises.

George T. McDonald
Founder and President
The Doe Fund
New York