The Passion of "Non-Profiteers"

Being one of the many people who work with a non-profit organization (I'll call us non-profiteers) is great. There is a huge sense of personal satisfaction in thinking about and doing things every day purely for the purpose of making the world a better place. Although many non-profits do work that evokes great sadness in participants (for example, helping homeless children escape the streets), the hope for a brighter future drives them to never give up the fight.

This passion is very powerful. A large part of the power comes from not being driven by financial rewards. When we are compensated by placing a value on our efforts as is done through financial compensation, it creates a boundry on how much effort we should assert towards whatever we are trying to achieve. In effect, financial compensation places monetary value on knowledge, skills, and experience along with an implicit or explicit degree of effort (ostensibly about 40 to 50 hours per week). Thus, there is less motivation to go much beyond what is expected of the position. It is true that there are typically bonuses and promotions to be doled out to over-achievers, but the fact that we label such individuals "over-achievers" is a problem in itself. It indicates that there is an acceptable level of achievement that is less than what the person has accomplished.

When one observes non-profiteers, they see something different. They see people motivated by internal forces like passion rather than external forces like compensation. When one is driven by internal forces, what they can accomplish is bound only by other internal forces such as their psychological and physical health. This maximizes the ability for one to reach their full potential.

Can welath itself be a passion? No. Wealth only serves to meet other needs. These might be status, power, freedom, etc. Digging deeper, you will find links to fulfilling more basic needs like a sense of security, nourishment, etc. While I don't have a background in psychology, it would certainly be worth the time investment to learn more about what human's most basic needs are and how they tie into higher-order desires.

I don't want to give the impression of naively assuming that most non-profits are ideal and that most for-profits are not. However, I have observed that non-profits tend to do better than for-profits in this particular area.

If you haven't spent much time with non-profiteers or non-profit organizations, take a look around your community to see if there are any volunteer projects that interest you and try volunteering. There are many excellent learnings that can be gained from non-profit work that are not as readily observable in for-profit work. The kicker is that what is learned can be brought back to for-profit companies to both benefit the workplace culture and, ironically, to increase profitability.

To all those working to make the world a better place, whether non-profit, for-profit, or however else you may define what you do, keep the faith! We salute your efforts!