The importance of being a non-profit

Have you ever had a conversation where it seems as though the other person isn’t listening? Just to test them, you end up throwing outrageous things into your monologues: “So, I just bought an African elephant the other day. He's named fluffy.”

Working in outreach is kind of like that- minus the African elephant, of course. For every 10 people you contact, most likely only one will respond to you. Even those who say they will call you back, rarely do. Its frustrating at times, but it’s important not get discouraged - after all, you don’t want to sell your services to people who don’t want them.

Non-profits often have to work in this manner. They are dedicated to fulfilling their mission to help the community rather than meeting the ‘bottom line,’ so they must rely on the community to support them. They must be aggressive in pursuing those who are interested in what they do. For-profits are useful in providing goods and services to the community, but since their goal is to make money for their shareholders, they are not primarily working for the public's best interest. Since you cannot trust the government to be everywhere and do everything, the community needs to pick up the slack. This is the role of non-profits- to work to improve the community in the spaces that for-profits and the government do not cover.

So despite the number of no’s I receive and the number of people who blow me off, I am proud to be a part of the non-profit community.

Nathan Eckstrand