Non-Profits as Entrepreneurial Ventures

Universities across the country, as told in this story in the Chronicle of Higher Education, are beginning to train non-profit managers in business skills, particularly entrepreneurial management skills.
“Around the country, business schools are creating and expanding programs that help nonprofit managers…apply bottom-line business skills to mission-driven projects. Courses in nonprofit management and related fields like social entrepreneurship are booming.”
There are several trends behind the growth in these programs.
“Several factors account for the surge of interest from students. First, turned off by stories of corporate greed, students are eager to find ways to make a contribution to a post-9/11 world. Second, with 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the United States competing for government and philanthropic funds, charities need skilled fund raisers and administrators. In addition, their leaders are worried that scandals like those at United Way and other charities have shaken public confidence. They want to reaffirm it.”
I am seeing growing interest in our programs here at Belmont among both MBA students and undergraduate business students. Many of these students are also strong advocates that the private sector is the best answer to many of society’s problems, rather than relying on government programs.