WBJ Editor Brad Kane
Updated: December 9, 2024
From the Editor
From the Editor: The business of nonprofits
Quick trivia question: Which of these Central Mass. organizations are businesses? United Way of Central Massachusetts, Venture Community Services, Hanover Insurance Group, Hanover Theatre, NewVue Communities, UMass Memorial Health, Clark University, TJX Cos.
This is a trick question, because they are all businesses. With the exception of Hanover Insurance and TJX, all those organizations are nonprofits, but they are still businesses. They need revenue to survive. They are led by trained and experienced executives. They have employees they want to keep employed. They want to expand, face competition in their markets, are sensitive to fluctuations in the economy, deal with regulators, and navigate times when their services are in high demand. Nonprofits are businesses.
Most general media coverage of nonprofits, particularly human services nonprofits, tends to focus on their missions, the need for their services, and the community good they achieve. This type of coverage is important, as it raises a nonprofit’s profile. However, through the business-focused lens of WBJ’s coverage, we are more concerned with how they accomplish their missions. Young social entrepreneurs looking to make their mark have to figure out how to raise money and lay the proper organizational groundwork. Established nonprofits need to deal with issues like succession planning. High-profile nonprofits with large endowments can get wrapped up in debates over whether their property should be tax-exempt.
This edition’s Focus on Nonprofits looks at two key elements of the nonprofit business model: fundraising and strategic planning. In the “How to set a fundraising record”, Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo sits down with the woman behind the success of UMass Memorial Health - Milford Medical Center’s annual gala. In her “The next strategic plan” story, Kanner-Mascolo discusses the near future of the Family Health Center of Worcester now that the community health center has emerged from financial crisis and selected a new board chair.
Nonprofit businesses are some of the most upstanding and outstanding pillars of our community and economy. But just because these nonprofits perform a social good, that does not mean they’re easy to operate. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Brad Kane is the editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
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