A World with No Mission to Drive It?
In recent years, a handful of large nonprofits in the U.S. have soured the reputations of nonprofits and other donor funded institutions, making people skeptical about how much good they truly do.
Whether it’s hearing about some pastor’s outlandish salary (yes, churches and other places of worship are nonprofits too), or seeing published financial statements that reveal only a minuscule amount of each dollar in donations goes toward actual programming while the rest goes towards administrative costs (i.e. the CEO’s preposterous salary) and “overhead,” the nonprofit and mission-driven sectors can hardly be considered uncorrupted.
Even so, there is clear evidence that resources can be even more effective in the service of those in need when they are combined and managed by those who are knowledgeable about a problem and experienced in solving it.
So imagine,
a world with no mission to drive it.
What would that even look like?
As of 2016, there were over 1.5 million nonprofits operating in the United States alone. (Source)
If we just imagined a nation without nonprofits and mission-driven entities, then we would have to envision an America without public schools. A nation with no formal places of worship.
There would be no public hospitals.
No labor unions.
No chambers of commerce or professional associations.
There would be no museums and no orchestras.
There would be no service or expressive organizations.
America’s third largest workforce would be nonexistent. At least 11.9 million more people would be unemployed. (Source)
In a world without nonprofits 7.4% of the world’s workforce and more than 10% of the workforce in at least 5 other countries would be without jobs. (Source)
There would be no people with an intimate local knowledge of their community. No changemakers and social innovators.
The people who currently belong to small, local organizations and who have a thorough understanding of the needs of their community and the best ways to meet them would have no place in society.
There would be no organized channel for people with a specific expertise to share it with those who need it most and yet cannot afford it.
Who would work on solving the global problems of poverty and pollution? Of deforestation and resource depletion? Of equal human rights and quality education for all?
Nonprofits are needed. Mission-driven organizations make the world go round.
They raise awareness about issues that would otherwise go unnoticed and unresolved.
Nonprofits advocate on behalf of the people they serve. People whose voices would otherwise go unheard.
Service organizations provide aid and assistance to groups and populations that would otherwise go unseen.
Expressive organizations (think sports and the arts) offer channels and outlets for people to develop abilities and talents that would otherwise go untapped.
In a world without government agencies, nonprofits, and other impact institutions there would be no parks, no reserves, and no community gardens.
People who have seen loved ones suffer with a disease could not anticipate one day finding a cure.
Those who are marginalized, overlooked, and/or deep in poverty’s grasp could not look forward to change.