The Non Nonprofit: For-Profit Thinking for Nonprofit Success

by Steve Rothschild, Bill George (Foreword)

A top business leader shares the business principles he used to launch both a top company and a thriving nonprofitNonprofit leaders know that solving pervasive social problems requires passion and creativity as well as tangible results. "The Non Nonprofit" shares the same business principles that drive the world's best companies, showing how they can (and should) be applied to the realm of nonprofits. Steve Rothschild personally crossed sectors when he left corporate America to found Twin Cities RISE!, a highly successful poverty reduction program. His honest story, and success and missteps, create an essential roadmap for any social venture looking to prove and boost its impact.Distills essential nonprofit principles such as having a clear and appropriate purpose, creating economic value from social benefit, and establishing mutual accountabilityShares successful approaches from innovative organizations such as Grameen Bank, Playworks, Common Ground, Habitat for Humanity, Lumni, Caring Bridge, College Summit and RISE!Draws from the author's success in founding and building Twin Cities RISE!, which trains unemployed Minnesotans for living wage jobs. RISE! serves 1,500 participants each yearAs insightful as it is inspiring, "The Non Nonprofit" can help maximize the positive impact of any nonprofit.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting ideas here that with some more focus and depth could have made a useful book, but the good food for thought is mixed in with too much high fructose corn syrup.

The hubris here is amazing. The author makes his fortune peddling Yoplait, one serving of which has more sugar than the recommended total daily intake for an adult, and he wants respect for selling that as nutrition for kids. If he were establishing his credibility as evil marketer of the decade, that would be fine, but this is a book about making the world a better place.

Then, even though he's writing after the Crash of 2008 and the bankruptcies of banks, GM, Kodak, etc., he assumes that businessmen are good leaders, and business techniques must be better than whatever nonprofits do. I don't buy it. The core of the book is some anecdotes describing people rediscovering concepts that good non-profits have always used (e.g. measuring outcomes). These are not "for-profit" innovations.

He does have an important point though, that too many charities are wasting time and money on things that don't work. But even his good examples depict the typical failures of reinventing the wheel and repeating proven mistakes.

[Bernie Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 7 principles are solid.
This could have been a much smaller book — or even a white paper and would have communicated the information just as well.

That said, the parts of this book that were good — were really good.

My colleague and I recently did a podcast on the subject of business principles in nonprofits. I’m biased, but I think the podcast will have better signal/noise ratio than the book.

https://growability.com/ep55-should-a...


Also. If you do the audio version, the edit is terrible. A lot of repeated sentences to the point of annoyance.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did this book as an audio book, and found it highly practical and informative, yet not easily transferable to the nonprofit I direct. If you run a nonprofit that helps people get education and equipped to join the workforce and get a great job, you will love this book. If your nonprofit focuses on simply helping the poor, getting people food and water and essentials, etc, not much help will be found. Overall though, an inspiring read about a businessman who left his high paying job to do what mattered most to him - serve others!

[Vonia]

The information is rather straightforward; not into all the numbers, etcetera, but he seems to have a strong scientific understanding in the data he is expressing, although a few hundred less pages would be almost better for some; less confusing, depending on readers!!!!!....

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, it wasn't terribly enlightening. It was mostly the story of the author's experience in his own nonprofit. Some of it could be extrapolated out to be helpful for other nonprofits, but not much. The essential message I took out was to get really good data on what you do to prove your worth. If you have a non profit similar to the author's, you could get some really good tips. If your nonprofit is significantly different, it would be more challenging to translate the advice (?) he offers.

[Raymon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, because this isn't a genre that I typically like. I don't enjoy business or self-help even remotely. However, because of my current employment this book was extremely enlightening and interesting.

[Tom Philpott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably good book. I got a good idea about how to assess who your true customer is when you are a NFP.

[Peter Stangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and good practical advice for non—profits seeking to take advantage of for-profit thinking. The examples used were very enjoyable le to read about. Primary focus is on social sciences.

[Lusajo Mwaisaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those working for a cause, aspiring to make lasting change and are candles in this life, the knowledge and insight packed in this read is immense and it shed light to a number of things that we usually take for granted while striving to make positive change/impact in the communities we serve.

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good advice with solid business principles. I enjoyed the learnings from the authors non-profit.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fully prepared to hate this book, as someone who resists the corprotization of nonprofits with every fiber of her being. In fact, there is a small scuff mark from where I threw the book on the floor during the introduction. But! Surprisingly, there were some grains of wheat among the chaff. Unlike many books in this genre, the author recognizes nonprofits' uniqueness, i.e. that you cannot just cut and paste corporate concepts to the NP sector. I more or less agree with all 7 principles, and I am pleased that he proffers them as a package deal. However, I worry that readers in the target audience will miss this subtlety and instead glean self-serving business ideals.

[Fred Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can probably get most of what you need by reading the first couple chapters. While the advice isn't rocket science, it's simple and effective. The author has been incredibly effective with the organization he started in St. Paul and has pioneered many things years ago that are only getting a lot of press now. Definitely on the leading edge of how to run and fund social innovation in non-profits.