Interview With Dr. Lester Salamon Revisited

Nonprofit Challenges

The nonprofit field embodies citizen-driven action where individuals come together to solve problems individuals cannot solve on their own. Since colonial times, regular people here in the United States have stepped in to further the arts, address homelessness, support families, and create an infrastructure of services that support the most vulnerable in our communities. It is this authentic care for the improvement of our communities that has made the nonprofit field a vital pillar in our society. 

This industry has demonstrated resilience in the face of many never-ending challenges. However, nonprofits are now at a crossroads where they are facing challenges on numerous fronts. They are experiencing decreasing funding, restrictive funding that does not account for ballooning costs, increasing administrative reporting demands, and increasing compliance requirements that threaten the sustainability of many nonprofits because they have no way to pay for them. These cumulative situations have led me to reminisce about my 2015 interview with Dr. Lester Salamon, the Director of the Center of Civil Society at Johns Hopkins University. Now, in 2017, when so many obstacles and challenges are being thrown at the nonprofit field, many of the points that he raised throughout our conversation are resonating with me more than ever.

Mistaken Nonprofit Assumptions: Then and Now

In our 2015 conversation, Dr. Lester Salamon noted that he founded the Center for Civil Society because many of the firmly held beliefs about the nonprofit sector were fundamentally wrong. These false assumptions, he believed, made it difficult to put the sector on the economic map. He also indicated that these mistaken notions extended beyond the United States. There were certain assumptions about nonprofits in other countries that were way off base because they fit into the American stereotype that no one else has nonprofits. This led him to launch an international project where he worked with academics around the world to gather data that would help to make sense of institutions in the third sector and their contributions to society. 

His message of a misunderstood industry could not be more accurate today. I find that nonprofits continue to be misunderstood in the present by the general public and their funders. The public sees nonprofits as organizations that further the public good (which they definitely do), but the complexity under which these agencies operate is greatly underestimated. Furthermore, there is this general belief that people who work in the nonprofit sector should essentially take a vow of poverty. This misguided notion makes it very difficult for nonprofits to attract and retain talent. It also makes for very difficult working conditions.

I would also add that funders often have misguided funding formulas for nonprofits. For example, the government has funding models that are designed for for-profit companies that sell goods or are fashioned after government management systems (where overhead costs like facilities or benefits are not reflected in operational budgets). Neither one of these approaches supports the nonprofit corporate structure, which is a blend of the private and public sectors. Stay tuned for upcoming articles on nonprofit corporate structures and how they compare to for-profit corporate structures and government.

Nonprofits Are Driven by Citizen Action

Dr. Salamon also noted that, unlike business or government, nonprofits are institutions that mobilize private initiatives for the common good.  Good samaritans mobilize to meet various community needs ranging from recreational programs for youth to meeting basic human needs. This feature, he said, differentiates the Third Sector. Regular people can tap into the private human initiative and mobilize friends and colleagues to make a contribution.  

This continues to be true today.  As a whole, I have seen firsthand nonprofit professionals and their supporters directly link to communities to help them solve problems that one person cannot solve on his or her own. The nonprofit industry has fostered volunteerism and community service in ways that are unparalleled in other industries. In fact, the private sector is now increasingly replicating the nonprofit model through corporate volunteerism initiatives. In short, nonprofits further democratic principles and offer value-driven community solutions.

Nonprofit Functions

Dr. Salamon also noted that nonprofits play 5 functions:

• To provide and deliver services,

• Serve as an expressive mechanism for an array of values ranging from religious to recreational,

• Serve as a community-building vehicle by building social capital and reciprocity among people,

• Engage in an advocacy role that allows people to bring issues to the public debate and influence the public policy agenda, and

• Serve as a value guardian of private initiatives for the public good.

I will supplement Dr. Salomon’s research findings with the idea that citizen-driven action has also spurred an avalanche of innovation aimed at solving complex social issues. The work of the nonprofit sector has served as the springboard for research and evidence-based practices focused on solving difficult issues such as poverty, trauma, abuse, homelessness, poor health outcomes, access to education, etc. Nonprofits have also served as the primary drivers for creating a workforce that is highly specialized in human and social service interventions.  In other words, nonprofits have been the incubators of social change by operationalizing theoretical constructs of good citizenship. They have engaged in direct community-focused problem-solving by implementing the mission of each nonprofit organization. The end result is that nonprofits have silently created an infrastructure of support that function as a buffer against poor community outcomes. In other words, nonprofits provide us with a social safety net that must be protected and supported.

Nonprofit Takeaways

What can you take away from this part of our conversation?

• The work of nonprofits is essential in our communities and exemplifies good citizenship. Nonprofits should be strengthened because they provide a buffer against poverty, hunger, homelessness, destitution, and depressed communities. They empower individuals to mobilize around society’s needs by operationalizing values that benefit communities. They have also developed a highly specialized set of expertise that has helped them implement complex social interventions. The end result is that they have silently improved our communities and made all of our lives better.

• The mistaken notions about the nonprofit sector should be challenged by the people who are involved with or work for nonprofits. Outreach and education efforts targeting government officials, donors, volunteers, and the general public about how nonprofits really function are essential to challenging misinformation about the Third Sector because nonprofits are increasingly in danger of being put out of business. It is also important to inform the general public about how nonprofits actually work and how their "business" model works. This includes conversations about fully funding the operational needs of organizations that carry out this highly specialized and high-skilled work to protect communities from poor social outcomes. One of the strategies you can use is to distinguish nonprofit corporate structures from those of the private sector and government. 

• Nonprofits represent democratic values and improve the quality of life in their communities. The Nonprofit Sector is driven by a commitment to public service and by people who are driven by a desire to make a difference either as a volunteer or as an employee. This industry should be supported and afforded the resources it needs to make this world a better place.

What to Expect in Future Blogs and Newsletters

In the future, you will receive information about how to build capacity in the nonprofit sector so as to maximize social and collective impact. We will cover nonprofit fundraising, ethical challenges, advocacy, citizen-driven action, international comparisons, government contracting, program evaluation, data collection, managing transitions and crises, management solutions, and trends.

If you have any thoughts, please share your comments below. If you have questions that can only be answered via email, please contact me at [email protected] and I will try to be as helpful as possible. 

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