Calculating the Economic Value of Social Benefits
Edward
In doing more research about non profits and Steve Rothschild's book The Non Nonprofit I came across this article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. I felt it was worth showing because most people don't think about the economic value a non profit has when they do work that provides a social benefit. Mr. Rothchild is able to articulate that there is economic value that goes for being the social benefits of a nonprofit.
How Nonprofit Economic Value Creates New Capital Sources
The following is an excerpt from the book.
Calculating the Economic Value of Social Benefits
Quality nonprofits create benefits to society by addressing social problems, and virtually all the social benefits they create have monetary or economic value that can be identified and measured. A nonprofit that calculates this value can leverage its success into more effective fundraising, revenue generation, pay-for-performance relationships, and better ways of capitalizing growth.
An organization creates economic value when it increases revenue or eliminates costs, or both, for a stakeholder. These benefits typically accrue over time. The three components—increased revenue, decreased cost, and time—hold true whether the organization operates as a for-profit or a nonprofit.
Virtually every effective nonprofit creates economic value. However, there are some vitally important organizations—like art museums, zoos, and orchestras—where the economic value would be extraordinarily difficult, perhaps impossible, to establish. Of course, these organizations are essential to the community’s quality of life and have an intrinsic value. But they also create jobs and contribute to the economy in many ways. How do you determine the specific cash value they generate for state government or some other entity?