When profit isn't a measure of success, what's the bottom line? | Marion Chronicle Tribune - www.chronicle-tribune.com -

When profit isn't a measure of success, what's the bottom line? | Marion Chronicle Tribune - www.chronicle-tribune.com -: "When profit isn't a measure of success, what's the bottom line?
Second Harvest CEO shares group's rules to live by
BY LOIS ROCKHILL
Guest columnist

I pay attention to what's happening in the for-profit world of business. I believe there are things to be learned that can be applied to nonprofit social service organizations. Yet when I read that a CEO is fired because the company did not meet his or her sales goals or did not bring in enough profit for stockholders, I struggle with comparisons.

If the bottom line in business is profit, what is the bottom line in nonprofits? What is it that we need to produce, and at what level must we produce it to rate our performance satisfactory for the year? While our job is not to earn financial dividends for our owners, we do have owners. What do they expect from us, and what is a fair way to measure that expectation?"