What Are Nonprofit Organizations

Since a non-profit organization provides community services without monetary profit, the external environmental conditions that exist outside of the non-profit significantly influence its growth and survival. Specifically, economical elements such as disposal income levels, unemployment trends, taxation rules, inflation, and cost of living may impact the likelihood of obtaining new donors or continuing donations from existing donors. In an economic climate of decreasing disposable income may result in decreased donations. Furthermore, increasing unemployment rates may increase the need for public assistance wherein the non-profit organization may find it difficult to obtain increased funding to provide their philanthropic services.

Nonprofit organizations are defined as an organization(s) that run off of donations and/or fundraiser. By doing so they then in turn take those donations and turn them in to good use, there are many nonprofit organization that aide to educate and intervene

In contrast to corporations serving stakeholders and customers; nonprofits are ultimately directed to serving the public or specific groups and audiences. Unlike corporations who distribute a product, nonprofits services are delivered in the form of intangible or tangible products. Boards of these organizations are not structured in the same preciseness as those of major corporations. Companies with large resources have the

When people talk about support for nonprofits, they typically refer to financial supports. “Money is a constant topic of conversation among nonprofit leaders: How much do we need?

Nonprofit organizations broadly described operate to achieve missions that serve the common good. Graduate study in the field of nonprofit management focuses on the development of leadership skills for nonprofit managers and provides education in areas such as general operations, human resources, strategies, and fund development (Nachmias, 2008). Students of nonprofit management also develop proficiency in other matters such as nonprofit legal issues, organizational development, donor relations, financial management and fund-raising, volunteer, and human resource management, and pro-gram evaluation, to name a few competencies (Nachmias, 2008).Many nonprofit management programs have a theoretical component, and most programs rely on experiential learning as a vital element of a graduate student’s education. Future studies of community impact should include analysis components from the fields of nonprofit management education, service learning, capacity building, and nonprofit evaluation, and take into consideration specific factors that may affect study outcomes.

The nonprofit sector faces many challenges that make it more difficult to measure its financial performance. Young (2007) states that the survival of nonprofit businesses depends upon receiving financial funding from outside donors such as donations from charities, government contracts, endowments et cetera, and the necessity for having several different revenue sources is a challenge for nonprofit management. In addition, he points out that securing capital for operating is also much different than in the traditional business world. Fortunately, scholars have provided tools and information that will help nonprofits manage and measure their unique financial performance so they may make informed decisions and guide their organizations to sustainability (Young, 2007).

Nonprofit organizations have similar financial transactions and needs as for-profit businesses (Viader, & Espina, 2014). Their financial statements describe and summarize operating activities, obligations, and economic resources for a given period, usually one year (Viader, & Espina, 2014). A nonprofit is defined as a legal entity that does not conduct substantial commercial activity or earn a profit as its primary purpose (Viader, & Espina, 2014). The goal of the nonprofit is typically to provide services (Epstein, & McFarlan, 2011). In nonprofit organizations, management decisions are intended to result in furnishing the best possible service given resource constraints (DioGuardi, 2014). Basically, the success of a nonprofit entity is measured

The United States has an extraordinarily large, diverse, economically powerful and politically influential nonprofit sector, distinct from government and business. It consists of more than 1.6 million registered organizations and institutions and perhaps an equal or even larger number of nonprofit associations that are not required to formally register or report their activities. The U.S. nonprofit sector is more broadly defined than elsewhere and includes schools, hospitals, museums, civil rights groups, labor unions, and many, many others. It accounts for more than six percent of the US Gross Domestic Product and employs more than nine percent of all US workers.

Nonprofit organizations (301C3) organizations receive certain tax benefits such as being tax exempt, as a result nonprofit organizations can not distribute profits or benefits to shareholders and are considered owned by the people. A for profit organization has the sole purpose of making shareholders a profit and therefore is taxed by the government.

Nonprofit organizations survive essentially on the various resources they are able to obtain. Money is obviously an enormous resource, as any organization needs money to survive. Money can come from various sources such as state and federal government funding and/or grants, donor cash, fundraising methods, donated products or services, and most importantly: volunteers. Volunteer labor makes up a total of one-third of the national income attributable to nonprofit organizations in the United States (Young, 2007).

Let’s help give back to nonprofit organizations!! Nonprofit, also called not-for-profit corporations, do not supply their own money. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. They must file a statement of corporate purpose with the Secretary of State, pay a fee, create articles of incorporation, conduct regular meetings, and fulfill other obligations to achieve and maintain corporate status. Different things go into running a nonprofit organization. The leader of the organization needs to make sure that all requirements needed to run a nonprofit organization are met, also dealing with outside contributors. Contributors play a big part in a nonprofit organization. There are multiple options involving funding a nonprofit organization. They can get funding for multiple reasons and in multiple ways; for example, sponsorship, corporate giving, grant funding, donations, and fundraising are ways to fund a nonprofit organization.

Out in the world there is tons of non-profit organizations available to look through and to fund. But their is also charities to fund. A non-profit organizations is an incorporated organization which exists for educational or charitable reasons, and from which its shareholders or trustees do not benefit financially.A charity is an organization setup to provide help and raise money for those in need. Girl scouts is one of the many organizations. The difference between the two is that a non-profit Corporation can’t pay the owner a dividend. Nonprofit organizations allow people to join together and combine resources to achieve common goals. People start nonprofit organizations to work on social problems or respond to needs in their communities.

Being a resident of New Orleans in year of 2005 affected a lot of families negatively by Hurricane Katrina. But, after witnessing the positive impact volunteers had on the recovery of New Orleans, this influenced me to become more involved in the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit organizations provide many services to meet a community’s needs. An example of a nonprofit organization can be hospitals, universities, social clubs, environmental groups and sports clubs. Communities depend on nonprofits to fill the gaps that may not be filled by the government. Because nonprofits are so vital to the world it is imperative that these organizations have proper staff to function and operate. This means that the organizational leaders must be able to recruit volunteers. This is by far not an easy task to accomplish considering the jobs that volunteers are being asked to perform are not always enjoyable or idyllic. Volunteers are asked to perform things from daily, miniscule chores to hazardous, life-risking projects. Due to these harsh circumstances it can be hard for leaders to keep their volunteers motivated and willing to participate in projects that are not challenging or satisfying. This also includes responsibilities that are dull and time consuming. Social media is a free and effective way for nonprofit organizations to recruit and retain a wide variety of volunteers.

Nonprofit organizations have several functions, and not each one is alike. Essential to all non-profit organizations are four functions: planning, budgeting, funding and management.

Financially healthy nonprofits use income-based, rather than budget-based spending which allows them to have income projections that are realistic and helps to determine realistic costs (Zietlow, Seidner, 2014). The most successful nonprofit should have an operating reserve to finance shortfalls and hopefully allows them to have a positive cash flow at the end of the year (Zietlow, Seidner, 2014). However, most nonprofit organizations fight to manage cash flow due to how income and the expenses often may occur at different times, so that there may not be enough cash to pay for the expenses as they become due and payable (Zietlow, Seidner, 2014).