Someone explain non-profits to me.

[Patranus]

The only difference is that a non-profit cannot distribute profits to shareholders.

 

[foghorn67]

Non-profits don't pay dividends, they don't have shareholders. But they do have investors. In some fields their income and taxes are really scrutinized under many standards, not just appeasing the IRS.
CEO's and other corporate executives do not get the same incentives due to the lack of "stock options" or stock performance.
Their salary is high, but so can the salary of non-execs.
Board members are usually active in the field they serve in. They may have the same m.o as their profit based counterparts, but they are usually idealists or have a philanthropists mindset.
I worked for a few hospital system that are non profit. I always found it to be a great working experience.

 

[foghorn67]

Retroactive promotions. Then demote.

It's not as hard as you think to fudge the numbers. I guarantee you would be shocked by some of these "executive staff" working for non-profits and the salaries they receive.

It depends what industry you are talking about. Audits, regulations go really deep in some industries like healthcare.

 

[Gibson486]

Retroactive promotions. Then demote.

It's not as hard as you think to fudge the numbers. I guarantee you would be shocked by some of these "executive staff" working for non-profits and the salaries they receive.

Any auditing firm can see what happened there. Fudging numbers in accounting is not easy anymore. If they need to, auditors will go back 6 years to investigate something.

 

[Via]

I do contract work for a non-profit and let me tell you this: The board is a HUGE pain in the ass.

Nosy board members always demanding paperwork, documentation of every hour I work, written explanations of everything I do.... the list goes on and on.

I got into a (slightly) heated discussion with a board member over missing inventory that was still listed as being available (problems with a previous worker), and the board president called me and demanded that I come to the next board meeting and apologize to the guy publicly. Can you believe that shit?

Of course I refused, and nothing happened. Self-important schmucks.

 

[OverVolt]

non-profits are not publicly traded, pay less taxes, and are forced to spend the profits on new projects.

That is why even in a bad economy schools and hospitals are still building.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Retroactive promotions. Then demote.

It's not as hard as you think to fudge the numbers. I guarantee you would be shocked by some of these "executive staff" working for non-profits and the salaries they receive.

It's a hell of a lot harder when the IRS requires financial statement audits of any significant NPO.

I've never liked the designation of non-profit.

It should be "not for profit".

 

[CPA]

Somebody thinks of a get-rich-quick idea, selects the non-profit business designation, and builds the business. People willingly volunteer or accept low paid positions while other people happily donate their money. The funds generated by the business go directly into the owner's pocket.

The owner gets filthy rich while everyone supporting the owner remains non-profit.

You are either an OWSer, a moron, or both. I'm thinking the latter.

 

[CPA]

Nonprofits can pad salaries to get zero net profits.

If you imagined so, any law or consulting firm could be nonprofit. All they care about are salaries and not profit.

Stupid classification.

Jesus people, if you don't know the subject please don't respond.