"a nonprofit/charity will never make as big a difference as a true for-profit vehicle that is pointed at the same problem." Different domains of problems: a NF

"a nonprofit/charity will never make as big a difference as a true for-profit vehicle that is pointed at the same problem." Different domains of problems: a NFP (not for profit) org may not be as _efficient_ as a FP org pursuing the same goal, but you are ignoring that many goals will never be pursued by a profit-seeking entity. Provision of many "social goods" like shelter for the homeless, health care for poor children, or help for people with severe disabilities (components of the "safety net") will simply never yield a profit margin by virtue of the nature of the underlying problem. This is precisely because if we want to provide such services for people who lack the _ability_ to pay for it, there will be no demand for it. So, instead, NFPs make a value proposition to _philanthropists_ who want to provide the goods there is no market incentive to provide. In the public sector corollary, politicians make value propositions to voters, and whichever programs they like (through the mucky, revealed-preference process we call democracy), and the social goods demanded via that process are then implemented through public financing (spreading costs among everyone). It is the underlying problem -- not the organization type -- that governs whether a venture can be profitable, or even sustainable.