Breaking Down Walls to Build Up Nonprofits

Abstract

Management consultant Peter F. Drucker famously taught us all to ask, “What business are you in?” The question was designed to prompt thinking beyond the simple surface answer (such as “book publishing”) to a deeper one (such as “providing information” or “creating entertainment” or “leading dialogue on important topics”). The deeper answers allowed corporations to break out of the confines of traditional thinking and to position themselves more broadly as their industries underwent technological or market changes.

We’re all redefining our roles these days. Billionaires now are tackling social change through “giving while living” philanthropy. Businesses know it is not enough to satisfy their customers and shareholders—they also need to be perceived as having a triple bottom line through which they actively contribute to the community in which they operate. Governments no longer can afford to be the sole providers of human service stability and social cohesion—they rely heavily on nonprofit partners to assist in that effort.

Rahul Bhardwaj, president and CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation, may have said it best in a recent address in Brazil to the São Paulo Foundations Association. “We need to stop thinking of our sectors as walls, but rather as bridges,” Bhardwaj said. “If we can find ways to align our interests, to start by finding what we share rather than what we don’t, business will prosper all the more, the social sector will better serve more people, and government will improve the lives of its citizens.”