The problem with charities

I’m fascinated with charities. This blog grew partly out of my experience with the Intellectual Property and Non-Profits Clinic (now the Entrepreneurship & Intellectual Property Clinic) at my law school.

The problem with charities is that while many of them serve important functions, they serve only acute needs. In the U.S. this is partly a function of the legal restrictions facing non-profit organizations. But, more generally, it’s also a function of how we think about helping people.

We tend to think about people who need help as those who are suffering through some sort of traumatic experience. Whether it’s a shelter helping victims of abuse escape danger, a drug and alcohol recovery center helping people regain control of their lives, or a charity that builds houses for injured vets, these institutions step in when people’s needs are greatest. They touch uncounted lives and they are a testament to the goodness of the human heart.

There are far more people whose needs are nowhere near so acute. Many, if not most, would benefit from a helping hand. Some don’t realize it and others don’t want it. They go to work or school (or neither), day in and day out. Some of them have escaped a trauma and are learning to care for themselves. Whatever the reason, these people are out of reach for the charities but they’re not yet self-reliant.

Business, with its longevity and focus on effort, productivity, efficiency, and growth, can encourage and develop skills that improve lives. But a business that is focused on maximizing profit focuses all those skills on a single purpose that, like the charities above, serves only an acute need. And this focus, in turn, blinkers people who might do more for others if it weren’t for the single-minded devotion demanded by their work.

What we need is business that will refocus to a higher set of priorities. Not to the exclusion of profit, but to a perspective that puts profit in its proper place alongside the well-being of its employees and the value it provides to its customers.