Nonprofit Proliferation

In recent years many foundations (and community foundations in particular) have bemoaned the proliferation of nonprofits.  "There are too many",  "They are replicating services", "We do not need another nonprofit", etc. Calls for mergers and partnerships very much reflect these feelings.

A quick glance at any number of newspapers this week, particularly around the Haitian story, can probably challenge the assumption that proliferation is a bad thing.  At least in the world of international aid (although likely in other areas too), innovative solutions to various types of challenges are being developed.  The New York Times identified a few nonprofits that have been developing new approaches to addressing the delivery of health care and housing services -- workable methods that had not been developed by the long-standing nonprofits with similar missions.

As much as I firmly believe that there are many opportunities for partnerships, alliances and mergers, I am reminded that innovation often comes from newer and/or smaller groups.  The donor sector must find a way to accommodate and support both for the betterment of society.

Comments

[Bill Huddleston]

The question: “Are there too many non-profits?” is a weak question, and answering it only produces thousands of pages of reports and no real change.

A better question is: “Have we solved all the problems that need solving?”

Until the answer to that question is yes, then the answer to “Are there too many profits” is: “ No, we don’t have enough of the right non-profits!”

This is similar to the question: Are there enough restaurants?

The answer to that depends where you live, and what you want to eat. In some places the answer is yes, some places no.

Even if you decide the answer is “Yes, there are too many non-profits” there is no mechanism to force a change, and just like the restaurant example, if a particular non-profit does not get enough traffic (e.g. donors and patrons), it will fail, regardless of how good the chef was.

Regards,
Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com
Author of soon to be released:
Successful CFC Fundraising, Growing Donors that Give for Decades

[Nursing tops]

A search of The Union newspaper’s archives produced several articles about nonprofits that are in financial trouble and barely able to meet their mission goals to serve the needy