Ignorance of the nonprofit sector — especially its scope and diversity — is rampant and has been a topic of increasing concern to me over the nine years I have been in my role at CEP. This brief video is the best quick overview of the sector I have seen and I hope it is used to help address this issue:
For a good discussion related to this video, and the criticism of the Giving Pledge that is rooted in ignorance of the sector, check out Tactical Philanthropy.
| Posted in | Programming and Communications |
| Tags | nonprofit sector |
Phil,
Here’s my response to this post: http://changecharity.blogspot.com/2010/08/toolkit.html
I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff: Thanks for your comment responding, in part, to my post. Of course I agree that there are nonprofits that work toward goals we both probably vehemently oppose, as well as those you or I might regard as trivial. This diversity of organizations, causes, and associations is something I regard as a strength of this country, something Toqueville recognized in 1835 when he wrote: “Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types – religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute.”
And of course there are many for-profit companies doing good in this country and around the world. Nothing in what I wrote – here or anywhere – suggested otherwise.
But my perspective is that knowledge of the basic facts about the nonprofit sector is often missing from public discussions, and I think this video provides a good, very simple, overview of what the sector is – and that this is a service.
I believe we need a strong, effective, nonprofit sector just as we need strong businesses and good government. For more on why I think nonprofits play an important, distinctive role in our society, see http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/assets/pdfs/CEP_IntrepidPhilanthropist_Nov2009.pdf or
http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/blog/2010/08/getting-over-our-identity-crisis/ or
http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/blog/2010/06/bp-oil-spill-a-cautionary-tale-on-blurring-of-sector-boundaries/.
Thanks for your post.
Phil,
Thanks for your time and your response. I love the Toqueville quote you cited. I do agree that we need a a strong effective nonprofit sector in the same way we a strong business sector and good governance, but I think we diverge in thought when you say that the nonprofit sector needs to be “distinctive.” I know you’ve written extensively about this and I’ve been trying to craft a response. Maybe this will push me forward into creating it. I feel like the blurring of sectors is an inevitable thing as well as a good thing. I think this blurring reflects the underlying realization that many in this country are coming to that social change is not limited to simply one sector, or one way of doing things, but actually that social change requires a multitude of different methods, lifestyles and ways of thinking.
I poke around in my head a little more and see if I can produce something more forceful that this. I’ll let you know what I come up with.
Thanks again,
Jeff
Phil, Thanks for posting my video on your blog. To Phil’s other readers: if you would like a complete bibliography of “Know Your Sector” you can find it at http://philanthropyreports.org/blog.html.