Nonprofits Quotes

“Innovation and disruption are ideas that originated in the arena of business but which have since been applied to arenas whose values and goals are remote from the values and goals of business. People aren’t disk drives. Public schools, colleges and universities, churches, museums, and many hospitals, all of which have been subjected to disruptive innovation, have revenues and expenses and infrastructures, but they aren’t industries in the same way that manufacturers of hard-disk drives or truck engines or drygoods are industries. Journalism isn’t an industry in that sense, either.

Doctors have obligations to their patients, teachers to their students, pastors to their congregations, curators to the public, and journalists to their readers--obligations that lie outside the realm of earnings, and are fundamentally different from the obligations that a business executive has to employees, partners, and investors. Historically, institutions like museums, hospitals, schools, and universities have been supported by patronage, donations made by individuals or funding from church or state. The press has generally supported itself by charging subscribers and selling advertising. (Underwriting by corporations and foundations is a funding source of more recent vintage.) Charging for admission, membership, subscriptions and, for some, earning profits are similarities these institutions have with businesses. Still, that doesn’t make them industries, which turn things into commodities and sell them for gain.”
― Jill Lepore

“Create and communicate absolute clarity of purpose.”
― Omer Soker, The Future of Associations

“Her husband had pursued an “alternative lifestyle” that was “free of the fetters of capitalism.” The woman herself, when she was in college, had considered the conformist pressures of getting good grades, building a resume, and landing a job in some big corporation to be tedious and distasteful and had thought the life her husband wanted dovetailed with hers. They got married as soon as she graduated, and she got a job right after. She learned quickly that an “alternative lifestyle” meant nothing without a detailed, concrete plan, and living “free of the fetters of capitalism” meant working for places that didn’t pay their workers on time. As she worried about realizing this alternative lifestyle in the real world, she crumbled away under the pressures of working at a company in the non-profit sector that was run not by the normal labor of workers, but through their unrequited sacrifices. Meanwhile, her husband, who was her upperclassman in college but graduated later than she did, fiddled around in search of his ideal “alternative lifestyle” without ever settling down on any particular profession—the result being the twenty-million-won loan he had taken out and used up without her knowledge.”
― Bora Chung, Cursed Bunny

“Associations must evolve if they are to survive into the future.”
― Omer Soker, The Future of Associations

“Look inward for solutions to your greatest challenges.”
― Omer Soker, The Future of Associations

“The future is dependent on the decisions you make today.”
― Omer Soker, The Future of Associations

“You cannot be a modern association without a contemporary board.”
― Omer Soker, The Future of Associations

“There are some seismic cultural shifts that are underway online, and they are adding new vital layers to our digital landscape.”
― Brock Warner CFRE, From the Ground Up: Digital Fundraising For Nonprofits

“Our work for nonprofits begins and ends with love. From the ancient Greek, philo means "loving, fond of, tending to” and anthropos means "humankind" or "humanity" So, Philanthropy is brotherly love for mankind.

You are the heart and hands of your community: people, creatures, and the world itself are counting on your success. No pressure.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, Build your Boat ...Reach your Destination: Nonprofit Startups

“...nonprofit leadership is more challenging than leading a for-profit company of similar size and complexity. The primary reason for this is differences in the clarity of organizational objectives.”
― D.C. Armijo, The Nonprofit Dilemma: Insights & Strategies for Purpose-Driven Leaders

“Something interesting and exciting happens when you begin contributing as a leader. You move from working in an organization to working on it...Whether you have a leadership title or not, when you begin working on your organization, you begin your journey as a leader.”
― D.C. Armijo, The Nonprofit Dilemma: Insights & Strategies for Purpose-Driven Leaders