Working together for change.

My last for-profit job was 10 years ago, as the business manager for a local comedy troupe. It was fun work and it honestly prepared me to work for a small non-profit in terms of skills acquired. But it didn't prepare me for the non-profit mentality. In the for-profit world, if someone does what you do, they are a competitor. You need to find a way to convince your target market that you can provide what they are looking for at a better value.

In the non-profit world, it is exactly the opposite. If someone else does what you do, they are your partner. As someone with an interest in serving the same population, you can assume certain things in common and find ways to limit overlap and increase effectiveness, thereby getting even more done for the people you are working to serve. The for-profit world is ultimately concerned with its bottom line, but the non-profit world is ultimately concerned with its values. In some ways I think teaching this mentality by living it, is one of the things that non-profit sector can really do to make this world a better place in all the ways that we desire it to be so.