Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies Education

Abstract

“We need to reject the naïve imposition of the ‘language of business’ on the social sectors, and instead jointly embrace a language of greatness.” (Collins, 2005, p. 2). This quote from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, recognizes that the push by many for nonprofits to become more business like is wrong headed. Instead, the critical difference is what makes a nonprofit great--or for that matter, a business great. In contrast to a business which uses financial returns as a measure of performance, nonprofits assess success relative to mission, and further, relative to the resources that they have to apply toward accomplishment of mission.