The Non Nonprofit: For-Profit Thinking for Nonprofit Success

by Steve Rothschild, Bill George (Foreword by)

Overview

A top business leader shares the business principles he used to launch both a top company and a thriving nonprofit

Nonprofit 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 accountability
• Shares 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 year

As insightful as it is inspiring, The Non Nonprofit can help maximize the positive impact of any nonprofit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781118021811
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	02/21/2012
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Steve Rothschild is the founder and board chair of Twin Cities RISE! He was also its CEO for its first nine years. He founded Invest in Outcomes, which developed the human capital performance bond, a new financial instrument to fund nonprofits. He launched Yoplait yogurt in the United States, was the company's first president, and later became executive vice president of General Mills. Twin Cities RISE!, an anti-poverty program for low-income adults living in generational poverty, trains under- and unemployed adults for jobs and connects them with employers who pay a living wage.

For more information, please visit www.steverothschild.org.

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Table of Contents

Foreword: How This Book Will Benefit Us All ix
by Bill George

Introduction 1

1 Principle #1: Have a Clear and Appropriate Purpose 21

2 Principle #2: Measure What Counts 47

3 Principle #3: Be Market Driven 65

4 Principle #4: Create Mutual Accountability 85

5 Principle #5: Support Personal Empowerment 101

6 Principle #6: Create Economic Value from Social Benefit 141

7 Principle #7: Be Learning Driven 169

8 The Principles in Practice 191

Appendix A: What You Can Do to Make a Difference 203

Appendix B: A Note on the Organizations in This Book 211

Notes 217

Acknowledgments 225

About the Author 227

Index 229

Interviews

Author Q&A with Steve Rothschild, author of The Non Nonprofit

What does it mean for a nonprofit organization to think like a private sector company?
For-profits and nonprofits are more alike than many think. While their missions and goals are obviously different, the same fundamental principles guide them. These include the abilities to (1) articulate a clear purpose that inspires and leads to appropriate goals and strategies; (2) serve their respective customers well; (3) empower their employees and clients to achieve high levels of accomplishment and be accountable; (4) create value from the strategies they pursue and the actions that they take; (5) measure and communicate that value to stakeholders; and (6) learn from their actions and those of their competitors so that they improve continuously. Applying these principles allows any organization, for-profit or nonprofit, to become more efficient, effective, and successful.

Are there any differences between how a nonprofit and a corporation should run themselves financially?
Organizations need to manage their finances according to the expectations and standards of their respective investors. In the case of for-profits, that would be market rate investors who seek high returns on their investment, whereas nonprofit investors are typically social investors like government, foundations, and donors more interested in a social return and therefore more focused on programatic results. Both nonprofits and for-profits require sound financial performance in order to thrive. Without sound financial results, both lose their ability to invest toward their goals.

Is this book only for nonprofits?
The book is subtitled "for-profit thinking for nonprofit success." The principles are based on successful for-profit strategies that any enterprise—for-profit or nonprofit—can benefit from.

What is your experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations?
I've benefited by spending half of my professional life in the for-profit world and half in the nonprofit sector. I've also served on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards, two of which I founded. This experience has given me the opportunity to learn the best practices in both sectors and to understand where there are great opportunities to share knowledge.

Editorial Reviews

In this marvelous book, Steve Rothschild shares the same sound business principles he used at General Mills and later to found two nonprofits. Every social enterprise can benefit from these rigorous, real-world approaches.”
—From the foreword by Bill George

“Steve Rothschild has given the nonprofit community a vital, much-needed book at a crucial moment—when funding from all sources is tighter than ever. I believe The Non Nonprofit will become the how-to manual for improving strategy, execution, and organizational effectiveness in the nonprofit world. And with twenty-two years of outstanding executive leadership at General Mills, followed by twenty years of innovative leadership in the not-for-profit world, Steve brings the ideal set of experiences and lessons to the topic. A must-read for any executive and especially those who lead our nonprofit organizations.”
—Ken Powell, CEO, General Mills

“The lessons of The Non Nonprofit can improve the results of any nonprofit organization.It provides sound guidance to donors, agencies, and policy makers. This is the kind of thinking I encourage United Way leaders to apply while measuring community need and community impact.”
—Brian Gallagher, president and CEO, United Way Worldwide

“We need more practical visionaries like Steve Rothschild. He saw the problem of poverty, rolled up his sleeves, and carefully tested what works and what doesn't. The result: a powerful and effective program for reducing poverty and a set of clear principles that can be readily applied anywhere. The Non Nonprofit is a ground-breaking book.”
—Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator, Minnesota

“The Non Nonprofit is this year's mandatory reading for anyone fortunate enough to be in leadership in the nonprofit sector. This book shows not only why but how nonprofit organizations can strategically move into a new framework that leads into the future, not simply react to circumstances beyond our control. The beauty here is that the principles are not only socially innovative but also grounded in proven experience. This is the book I will be passing out to the leaders in my network.”
—Father Larry Snyder, president, Catholic Charities USA

“Steve Rothschild, one of the country's best social entrepreneurs, has broken the back of multigenerational deep poverty. His clients, the formerly unemployable, have better track records at work than the average American. In The Non Nonprofit, he explains, simply and very clearly, how anyone can be just as effective.”
—Bill Drayton, CEO, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

“For all of our many achievements, America remains a nation yet suffering from widespread poverty. Steve Rothschild's The Non Nonprofit reflects what he has learned from nearly seventeen years as the committed and inspired founder of Twin Cities RISE! These are proven ideas, practical and available to businesses and public leaders in our communities. I am pleased to recommend this fresh and creative approach to creating more opportunity for those in our midst who need it the most.”
—Walter Mondale, 42nd Vice President of the United States

“Steve Rothschild's fresh thinking translates proven strategies that successful businesses employ every day into practical approaches to confronting centuries-old issues like poverty. No partisan politics, no fancy tricks-just fundamental, time-tested solutions.”
—Harvey Mackay, author, Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

“As a Twin Cities RISE! customer, I can say unequivocally that the seven principles in The Non Nonprofit work. RISE! provides just the type of employee that every company needs to be successful: self-motivated, engaged, skilled, productive, and emotionally mature. The employer community would do well to take much greater advantage of this underutilized organization.”
—David Abrams, vice president, North Memorial  Health Care

“I've observed from the beginning of his anti-poverty work Steve Rothschild's efforts to put his principles into practice. I've observed with the skeptical eye of an evaluator. I've seen hundreds of good ideas and hopeful visions flounder in the face of complex realities. I'm not easily impressed. But what Rothschild has accomplished impresses. The principles he identifies, explains, and illustrates have broad applicability. He has learned a great deal about what works. Anyone who cares about making a difference should pay attention to what he's learned-it's all here.”
—Michael Quinn Patton, founder and director, Utilization-Focused Evaluation; former president, American Evaluation Association

“As director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for six years in the 1990s, I presided over the U.S. government's global poverty reduction efforts. Steve Rothschild reminds me of the innovators whose practical approaches changed the world of development, people like Hernando De Soto and Muhammad Yunus. Rothschild understands incentives, accountability, and personal improvement. His Twin Cities RISE! is a learning-driven organization that empowers challenged citizens to overcome their issues and succeed. Rothschild's RISE! is not afraid to establish a bottom line and is eager to be held accountable for achieving it. The Non Nonprofit and its recipes for success are a must-read for those who are truly concerned about poverty, here or anywhere.”
—J. Brian Atwood, former dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; chair, Development Assistance Committee, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

“I take pride in being one of the many people Steve Rothschild met and talked with when he was first thinking of starting what turned out to be Twin Cities RISE! I must admit that while I thought his market-based approach was exquisitely on target, I was concerned he wasn't giving adequate weight to the many attitudinal and behavioral shortcomings that keep large numbers of people impoverished. More than fifteen years later, it's clear I was wrong, as I know of no analyst or practitioner in the United States who better understands how efforts to help poor people must meld both economically grounded and culturally grounded approaches.”
—Mitch Pearlstein, founder and CEO, Center of the American Experiment

From the Publisher