Many people at what the rest of world calls
non-profit organizations like to think of their organization as “not for profit” instead. This is especially true of
arts organizations.
Non-profit implies not making a profit while the goal of a good
not for profit is, in fact, to make a profit while still fulfilling the
artistic mission outlined in the
mission statement. The profit is then used to extended the life of the organization.
It is mostly a psychological/
semantic difference, but still a critical one. I often remember being sharply rebuked by the
artistic director of one
theatre I worked at whenever I slipped into calling it a
non-profit. “Never say that.” He’d say “We love profit, we just have greater obstacles when it comes to making one:
we actually have to provide the community with something valuable.”