Respond to each peer intial with 3-4 sentences.

Peer 1 Initial Post

You could probably take a pretty good guess as to what the nonprofit sector entails just by breaking down the word nonprofit (non-profit), and if your guess were that this sector deals with organizations that operate for purposes other than making a profit you would have the right mind set. However, the nonprofit sector has many aspects to it, and that’s not it in a ‘nutshell.” To better describe the nonprofit sector, this is the portion of the economy that is operated for the purpose of benefiting the needs of the public that are recognized by federal and state laws. On the word of Renz and Herman (2011) nonprofit organizations aren’t prohibited by law from earning a profit meaning an excess of gross earnings over expenses, and it is common for organizations within this sector to actually generate profits. (myeclassonline)

It is difficult to define what nonprofit organizations are, what they do, and how they do it. They vary enormously in scope and scale, ranging from informal grassroots organizations with no assets and no employees to multi-billion-dollar foundations, universities, religious bodies, and health care complexes with thousands of employees or members. Although some provide traditional charitable, educational, and religious services, the laws in many countries, including the United States, permit them to provide almost any kind of good or service on a not-for-profit basis. Sources of revenue vary: some are supported by donations, others depend on income from sales of goods and services, and many receive most or all of their revenues from government. (Renz and Herman, 2011).

What is important to grasp when trying to gain an understanding about the nonprofit sector is that the allocating of the profits earned or received is the main factor. It’s also important to understand that this sector is pretty much grounded in charity, volunteerism, and philanthropy. The American Red Cross is an example of an organization operating in the nonprofit sector. This organization is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief as well as education inside the US.

According to Renz and Herman (2011) unlike for profit organizations, a nonprofit organization is not allowed to allocate its profits to any stakeholder. Most prominently, a nonprofit organization would be a corporation, a trust or an unincorporated association.

The nonprofit sector exists as vehicle to allow the pursuant of public benefit purposes that are recognized under state and federal laws to be carried out. This sector allows services to be provided to those in need. Also, with the profits that come into a nonprofit organization it is put towards keeping the services going and providing to the target populations of the organization.

In the private sector (private business), shareholders hold the ownership and are not controlled by the government. Therefore the purpose of this sector is to make a profit and to maximize revenue to be allocated to its shareholders. The government or public sector provides certain services that are not exclusive to a certain group of society meaning it doesn’t exclude people from the service due to non-citizenship or those whom don’t pay taxes. For example, streetlights and highways. As explained above, aren’t for the purpose of making a profit and its revenue aren’t distributed among shareholders/owners but put back into the services they provide. Also, I’m certain that nonprofits have to right to make certain services exclusive depending about their mission/purpose. (myeclassonline)

I would say that the fact that state and federal laws have to recognize the purpose to be a need of benefit for the public would limit what a nonprofit organization could do and how their funding is to be used. The guidelines and laws are what limit the role that nonprofit organization can play in society. 

Peer 2 Initial Post

For 31 years, Promise House has stood at the forefront of stopping  youth homelessness in Dallas. This Agency uncovered that homeless and runaway youth were the Dallas

demographic with the greatest unmet need for services. As a result, churches have devoted their time to this under-served population: they bought a large blue house in Oak Cliff, and in 1984, Promise House was born. “Promise House began as a 16-bed emergency shelter for youth in crisis”. However, in 1996 the visionary leadership of Promise House broke ground on a new building, which allowed for a drastic expansion in the services offered. TheEmergency Youth Shelter Program moved into the new building in late 1990’s, leaving the original blue house vacant. With the space for additional residential programming now available, the Wesley Inn Program was created, allowing

 homeless teen mothers and mothers-to-be a place to learn to raise their children.”(PH pg1). More residential programs and non-residential, community-based programs were added over the years to come to the Promise House. The Promise House is different from the Private and Public Sector. Firstly, here’s what the public sector is all about. It is basically made of different Agencies which are owned and operated by the government. In the United States, the public sector includes government Organization like federal and state offices. “When a private individual mentions about the public sector, they are usually referring to a public authority, or public body. Any federal institution which is associated with health care, police services, prison services, local and central government management, and all their departments, are also part of the public sector.”(NA Pg 1)

Next, there’s the private sector. As it clearly states its name implies, this is usually made up of Business which are ‘private’, and this means that they are not owned by, nor part of, the government. All small businesses, corporations, profit and non-profit organizations, partnerships, charitable organizations and middle to large entrepreneurships, are considered to be part of the private sector. Those who are in the public sector typically supply services to the community, and they are not competing with any other Organization for profit. Private sectors, on the other hand, do have a plan of overtaking their competitors, and maximizing their money. Most public sectors are managed under a bigger chain of command and control, while private sectors mostly operate in a corporate setting. When it comes to policy Ideas, the activities in the public sector have a goal of doing to what is right by law, while the private sector is managed under the rules of shareholders and corporate owners. Non-Profit Organization plays all types of roles in the world but they are restricted by the Government Rules and State Constitution.