Nonprofits: A Not-For-Profit Analysis

Best Buddies is a non-profit organization that promotes the good through one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It has created lasting relationships between students with disabilities and their peers, therefore, helping to improve the quality of life and level of inclusion for a population that is often isolated and excluded. It has also provided employment opportunities for those with IDD, allowing them to be productive members of the labour force. Lastly, Best Buddies has given those with intellectual and developmental disabilities the chance to realize their potential by encouraging them to become leaders.

The fourth nonprofit I analyzed is called GreaterGood which is an online website that sells a wide range of products that have been made across the world and uses the profit generated by sales to donate to a variety of different nonprofits that have a specific mission (Help, 2015, p.1). The specific nonprofits that GreaterGood donates to breast cancer, animal rescue, veterans, autism, diabetes, the rainforest, and the one that is specific to my area of analysis the hunger site. This style of nonprofit expressed by the GreaterGood charity is extremely unique because of the extreme differences in charities they are partners with. With the multiple charities they work with I would be confident in arguing that the GreaterGood-hunger site is a path-goal leadership style.

Nonprofits can also legally advocate for a social justice agenda through activities that are neither political campaigning nor excessive lobbying, therefore eliminating the consequence of losing their tax exemption status. Some lobbying activities that are considered acceptable are nonpartisan analysis, in-depth study or research on a policy issues; discussions of broad social problems; responding to a written request from a legislative body; providing education materials to legislators or the public that are unbiased; meeting with a legislator to discuss social problems without referring to a particular legislative proposal; advocating for better implementation of existing laws and meeting with your representatives to discuss your program.

A not-for-profit organization responsible for the provision of leisure services would be Boys & Girls Club. This is an organization that truly holds up the values of being a not-for-profit organization. Their mission is "To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens" (Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 2013). With a mission such as this it is obvious that this is an organization that is about the youth and enabling them to grow as individuals.

Over the course of my two years at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), a certain nonprofit organization has really stood out to me. This particular non-profit is a critical piece to the MSU Denver community and the greater Denver community as a whole. Food for Thought currently provides food for six impoverished title one elementary schools, where many children would go hungry over the weekends otherwise. MSU Denver students and Denver business leaders volunteer for Food for Thought on a weekly basis during the school year. Every Friday morning, volunteers pack sacks of food into crates, which later get shipped out to the schools in need. Ever since I volunteered for Food for Thought the second semester of my freshman year,

When one talks about ‘Nonprofits’ many things come to mind; People often use phrases such as 501c3’s, charitable, ambassadors of the poor, and tax free organizations to umbrella the whole nonprofit sector. However, what large portions of our country fail to note is that there are differences within the nonprofit branch. There are two man categories of Nonprofits: Public, and Private; within those categories there are differing distinctions that allow for the separate identities of these organizations to in function and scope.

Nonprofit organizations broadly described operate to achieve missions that serve the common good. Graduate study in the field of nonprofit management focuses on the development of leadership skills for nonprofit managers and provides education in areas such as general operations, human resources, strategies, and fund development (Nachmias, 2008). Students of nonprofit management also develop proficiency in other matters such as nonprofit legal issues, organizational development, donor relations, financial management and fund-raising, volunteer, and human resource management, and pro-gram evaluation, to name a few competencies (Nachmias, 2008).Many nonprofit management programs have a theoretical component, and most programs rely on experiential learning as a vital element of a graduate student’s education. Future studies of community impact should include analysis components from the fields of nonprofit management education, service learning, capacity building, and nonprofit evaluation, and take into consideration specific factors that may affect study outcomes.

Nonprofits have been involved in U.S. housing since the early 20th century when the tenement house was the “labor housing” in urban areas like New York City. At the time, the tenements were controlled by private industry that were concerned about profit rather than the quality of life of their tenants (Bratt, 1998, pp. 139-156). The nonprofit response came in the form of so-called “Model” tenement buildings which like their free-market counterparts quickly devolved into slums (Friedman, 1968, pp. 81-87). After these early failures, it would be nearly fifty years before any significant push by nonprofits in housing.

The nonprofit sector faces many challenges that make it more difficult to measure its financial performance. Young (2007) states that the survival of nonprofit businesses depends upon receiving financial funding from outside donors such as donations from charities, government contracts, endowments et cetera, and the necessity for having several different revenue sources is a challenge for nonprofit management. In addition, he points out that securing capital for operating is also much different than in the traditional business world. Fortunately, scholars have provided tools and information that will help nonprofits manage and measure their unique financial performance so they may make informed decisions and guide their organizations to sustainability (Young, 2007).

The mission of Central Florida Coalition for the homeless in Orlando is to provide a home for the homeless and give them a chance to develop themselves in all aspects. The purpose of the organization is to offer a home for the homeless and take care of single mothers, children, the disabled as well as give quality education to those in need. The organization strives to provide shelter, clothing and financial aid through jobs to the needy people in the society.

Throughout my life I have volunteered for a few organizations. During my underclassmen years I volunteered at Seven Bridges Ranch throughout my summers. My responsibilities included taking care of all their horses, which meant, feeding, watering, grooming, exercising, etc. I was also kept up with some of the simple yard keep. Another great organization I volunteer for is called, 15 Forever Community Foundation. This is a foundation that gives 15,000 dollars to non-profit organizations. I have been doing this for three years, and the board members and I discuss what we want our funding focus is for the year, and then read each application, and decide who is best fit to receive the money. I have always loved being outdoors, and one of the non-profits

I enjoyed reading Chapter 11 especially what the author writes on page 281 as it summarizes the importance of a message. It keys on the relevance of accessibility, accountability, education, interaction, and empowerment. I think that is the key element of fundraising. I also believe that from a theory to reality there are some gaps. Nonprofits are often under tremendous pressure to perform with very little resources. Some nonprofits can navigate the process successfully and grow, while others do not.

The first policy alternative to consider is one suggested by Laura Cox Kaplan, a professor at American University and Co-Chair board member of the organization Running Start. Running Start is a non-profit organization that has the prime goal of combating the gender gap among elected officials and in Congress by motivating young women and giving them the skills that they need to thrive in their work environment (Kaplan, 2017). Kaplan’s suggests that organizations like Running Start can be used to close the gender wage gap both in the government and private sector (2017). The policy alternative would be to create and increase organizations that work closely with young women and provide them with skills needed to succeed in their careers, increase

Through a poststructural lens, the minimal services being implemented by the nonprofit sector is a way to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the sector because it fails to address the root of the problem, meaning attacking the systems of knowledge that justifies the motive of nonprofits. Historically, the colonial legacies and the emergence of western democracy constructed a legal and socioeconomic structure which highlights the role of the non profit sphere as a form of repressive benevolence. Capitalism thrives off the control of wealth and social change, because of its ability to internalize the market as a mechanism to a solution. The nonprofit sector is a bureaucratic barrel which allows capitalism to replace the functions of the

NPOs are entities almost the same as for-profit organizations save for two distinct features of NPOs (Nolan, 2013). First, it is prohibited to distribute its profits to the public. The second one is that NPOs do not have shareholders; therefore, no one owns the entity. What it includes are the trustees who merely administer the organization and oversee its operations.