For-profit common sense can help your organization ‘sell’ its cause.

By Carsten Walter

Yet despite the importance of the nonprofit sector, I fear that there continues to be a lack of business sense in what we do. Too often I’ve heard peers say that they’re expecting a gift because the donor owes it to the organization, or that the mission of the nonprofit is so important that donors will give without being asked. Despite the fact that we are involved in a nonprofit industry, it is still a business — and our business is selling our cause to donors and potential supporters.