Did it ever occur to you how negative the term
“non-profit” is in describing those organizations that toil in the vineyard of
community service? If it hasn’t, it
should. If you are employed in any
aspect of community service you should actually take offense at this manner of
identifying the important work you do in such a crucial part of our society.
As you
know, there are three main areas in our society that enable it to function –
the for-profit sector, the government sector, and that all-important third
sector that deals with all aspects of community service. The first two have a positive ring to
them. There is no doubt in identifying
their true purpose because the word signifying each of them is likewise
descriptive and to-the-point. Not so
with “non-profit sector”. This term is at
the same time negative, non-descriptive, and fails to tell us what actually
takes place.
A truer
moniker to describe this all-important sector should be the
“community benefit” sector. It is more positive in its message and
distinctly describes exactly what it does.
For such a large and important part of our society that does so much
good in so many areas such as human services, health, science, the environment,
education, and arts and culture, among others, accurately describing the
vineyard is the least that can be done!
