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> This just isn't true. There is nothing preventing nonprofits from accruing and banking money for many years at a time. That was what I was told. Even if its

> This just isn't true. There is nothing preventing nonprofits from accruing and banking money for many years at a time. That was what I was told. Even if its 'many years', its still a limit. Even if there wasn't any limit and what I was told was wrong, it still doesn't change the reality: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/operating-reserves-nonprofits https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/operatin... All the examples that people give on behalf of nonprofits are organizations that provide a free, non-critical service which would not harm anyone's livelihood if they went away. From free browsers to Wikipedia. There isnt one single service provider among them. ... Ask yourself: Would you build your startup by relying on a nonprofit-provided infra like payments, hosting and so on. That is, if you can even find such a non-profit service in the first place.

t-writescode 4y ago
> Ask yourself: Would you build your startup by relying on a nonprofit-provided infra like payments, hosting and so on. That is, if you can even find such a non-profit service in the first place. Recall that the majority of people that use Patreon tend to be YouTubers that want real income but are regularly banned from getting it; artists; non-profit / open-source software development teams; single-person dream-projects; influencers / online personalities; etc. So, "would I build my [community-facilitated, primary source of income] by relying on a [company that is not beholden to the whims of the stock market, so it can choose what's in everyone's best interest and not just the highest stock value]?" Absolutely.
solardev 4y ago
There is no limit. They can bank millions if they want. And yes, there are poorly run nonprofits just like there are poorly run businesses. How many businesses can survive 3 months with no income? What are you doubting, exactly? That nonprofits can't charge for services? Here's a few examples... some big museums (the NY Moma, the Field Museum in Chicago), the Green Bay packers (and the NFL as a whole until 2015), the Mayo Clinic, the Kaiser Permanente parent organization (which owns the for profit hospitals), etc. Donations are a part of many of their income streams, but not all. In tech, some other examples include VLC/VideoLan, the Linux foundation, TechSoup, Change.org, the Internet Archive... None of those have FAANG level money, but that was never their goal. They still manage to survive and produce very valuable output. Of course I would want a nonprofit payment processor, along with a nonprofit Lyft/Uber equivalent, etc. If I had the money or talent, I'd build those myself. Don't get me wrong, the nonprofit space has a lot less money overall because it can't attract investment. That doesn't mean they can only survive two years at a time. It entirely depends on their business model (yes, even nonprofits have one). If they don't diversify and depend solely on donations and don't get any, yes they will die. Businesses without income will die too. I'm not really sure what we're arguing about anymore. That nonprofits are poorer? It's true, they are. That they can't make or bank money? That part is not true. It's harder for them to attract money because you can't invest in them, but once they get it, they can manage it like any business, even buying up for profit businesses as investments.

t-writescode 4y ago

> Ask yourself: Would you build your startup by relying on a nonprofit-provided infra like payments, hosting and so on. That is, if you can even find such a non-profit service in the first place. Recall that the majority of people that use Patreon tend to be YouTubers that want real income but are regularly banned from getting it; artists; non-profit / open-source software development teams; single-person dream-projects; influencers / online personalities; etc. So, "would I build my [community-facilitated, primary source of income] by relying on a [company that is not beholden to the whims of the stock market, so it can choose what's in everyone's best interest and not just the highest stock value]?" Absolutely.

solardev 4y ago

There is no limit. They can bank millions if they want. And yes, there are poorly run nonprofits just like there are poorly run businesses. How many businesses can survive 3 months with no income? What are you doubting, exactly? That nonprofits can't charge for services? Here's a few examples... some big museums (the NY Moma, the Field Museum in Chicago), the Green Bay packers (and the NFL as a whole until 2015), the Mayo Clinic, the Kaiser Permanente parent organization (which owns the for profit hospitals), etc. Donations are a part of many of their income streams, but not all. In tech, some other examples include VLC/VideoLan, the Linux foundation, TechSoup, Change.org, the Internet Archive... None of those have FAANG level money, but that was never their goal. They still manage to survive and produce very valuable output. Of course I would want a nonprofit payment processor, along with a nonprofit Lyft/Uber equivalent, etc. If I had the money or talent, I'd build those myself. Don't get me wrong, the nonprofit space has a lot less money overall because it can't attract investment. That doesn't mean they can only survive two years at a time. It entirely depends on their business model (yes, even nonprofits have one). If they don't diversify and depend solely on donations and don't get any, yes they will die. Businesses without income will die too. I'm not really sure what we're arguing about anymore. That nonprofits are poorer? It's true, they are. That they can't make or bank money? That part is not true. It's harder for them to attract money because you can't invest in them, but once they get it, they can manage it like any business, even buying up for profit businesses as investments.