Non Profit Companies More Profitable Than For Profits? (employees, non-profit, owner)

[wonderman65]

Because non profits can use volunteer (free) labor, but for-profits cannot?

Also non profits get donations in addition to what they make.

You might say, well at what step do I get paid?

Well, CEOs of non profits are rumoured to make like $800k a year at times.

So, just give yourself a ridiculous salary, instead of stock options, and voila!!


Maybe I'll start a non profit, teaching people how to be polite and improving their social skills! 10% goes to actual teaching, 90% goes to admin fees. With free labor, of course. New grads need somewhere to start!

[Mr.Hospitality]

$800k in salary for a top non-profit organization is dwarfed by what private sector for-profit company CEOs make.

I worked for a non-profit early on. They made a lot of money, paid well, and had excellent benefits. I'm glad they take care of their people when they can.

[brocco]

Just like corporations, some non profits run on tighter budgets than others.

The distinction is more a matter of ownership

[unixfed]

Non-profit does not mean they're dirt poor or pay their employees crap. It only means that their goal is to break even at the end of the year.

If your leaders aren't good at their jobs, the organization doesn't do well and they fall well below the break even point. When you're a large enough company, you need to acquire top talent -- that doesn't come cheap.

I work for a multi billion dollar non-profit of about 6,000 employees. Our CEO and top execs each make over 800K, especially our CFO. Why? Even years when we are 100 million in the red, we have billions in reserves we are required to maintain as an insurance company. Smart investing of those billions keeps the ship afloat even for the worst years.

[TestEngr]

There are many who believe that the whole idea of non-profit has to go away. If you accept money for a service, that is doing business, all business has the same rules some think. I am not a legal or history expert on how the model developed, but I have heard people in other countries think the idea is a non working idea as it doesn't work like it does in the US. There is public service which differs from all that, of course we all wish the government as a public service would not waste money but that happens too.