The economy in the United States changed due to the rise of consumerism. What is consumerism? While consumption is an act that people engage in, sociologists understand consumerism to be a characteristic of society and a powerful ideology that frames our worldview, values, relationships, identities, and behaviors (Cole, 2018). The social institutions largely drove by the economy, and the economy drove by consumption and production.
Some nonprofits have to be more business oriented to increase revenue due to changes in the economy being so consumption heavy. According to the Fast Company’s survey (Leber, 2016), 1 in 5 consumers responded that they actually prefer to give back by purchasing socially responsible products. Also, 39% of the consumers preferred to split their giving between charities and cause-based brands. A few people said that purchasing as opposed to giving philanthropy was essentially a simpler route for them to give back routinely.
A recent article from “Is For-Profit the Future of Non-Profit?” profiled a few people who believe that philanthropy is most effective when folded into consumerism wrote in the Atlantic. People behind companies like PRODUCT (RED) and FEED believe that human nature is to want to shop, not to donate (Nonprofitchapin, 2014). So on the off chance that we need to get the most measure of cash from individuals, we should go to the wellspring of what they do the frequently is shop. Individuals don’t give as consistently and liberally as they spend on shopping, and, with cause-marked showcasing, the pitch avoids ‘asking’ and ‘enthusiastic intrigue.’
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As the economy evolved beyond industrialization, no longer driven by manufacturing and production, to focus more on the consumption of goods, services, and experiences (Ritzer, 2005), nonprofit organizations adapted to meet the new demands of their stakeholders.
Therefore, economy affected nonprofit organizations and how they operated. With consumerism on a rise, the nonprofit sector became more commercialized. Although, commercialism is a thrived factor for corporations, this characteristic seeped over into the nonprofit world and somewhat changed its organizational structure. I called it the social enterprise. What is social enterprise? It is an organization that addressed a basic unmet need or solve a social problem through a market-driven approach (Kavanagh, 2019). Commercialization drives monetary success for some areas around the globe and in that capacity is an important part of human advancement, so as opposed to yielding industrialism, we should work to reclassify and improve it.
Many nonprofits adopted the social enterprise model to create another stream of revenue. Of course, this social enterprise model used this profitable income to fund the nonprofit organization. Therefore, creating a for-profit entity allowed the nonprofit to create and participate in business ventures. The nonprofit and for-profit entities can share supporters and customers. As the nonprofit linked with the for-profit, the nonprofit received a percentage of the profit as a donation when goods or services purchased. For example, Amazon created the Amazon Smile to donate to nonprofit organization. This is an excellent way to generate revenue.
Nonprofits continued to fill in the gaps for people without access to the resources that allowed them to consume such as housing, food, clothes, healthcare, and education. Therefore, changes in social institutions affected people’s ability to consume. The nonprofit organizations are pertinent to our society. While for-profit companies continued to develop new strategies to engage consumers, nonprofits competed for donors and required modern technology to raise funds.
Can nonprofit organizations survive without consumerism? It is clear that consumerism role increasingly shaped the future of nonprofit organizations. People are naturally more supportive of brands that do good and avoid harming people, animals or the environment during the production of goods (Berlin, 2017). So maybe consolidating social great commercialization into the texture of our instructive framework could have both short and long-haul benefits along the whole creation chain and for networks all inclusive.
Nonprofits involvement in consumerism marketing can bring ample benefits to the nonprofit sector and to our society. The benefits listed as follows:
- Improved target of services to client needs
- Reliable flow of resources for promotion of charitable purposes
- Incentives for greater efficiency and innovation
- Increased donor funds for charitable activities
- Accountability and transparency
New forms of charitable organizations have likewise as of late shown up, activating revenue driven methods in the quest for nonprofit ends. The subsequent ‘social endeavors’ produce goods and services for the market, yet do as such in manners that fill altruistic needs (for example furnishing the destitute with abilities by giving them something to do in cooking activities) with the salary raised.
In conclusion, the role that consumerism played in shaping the future of nonprofit organizations is a gamechanger. What are the risks? One of the critical issues that could face the nonprofit sector is the involvement in market or commercial relationships. It is important to minimize the risks for social ventures listed below:
- Ensure valid permits on the federal, state, and local levels
- Make information and legal assistance available
- Develop effective measures to access performance
- Encourage foundations to work with private financial institution
- Encourage businesses to share knowledge and forge alliances
- Improve the base knowledge about social ventures
Eventually, society esteemed not-for-profit associations since they created benefits that go well past the arrangement of goods and services. These advantages incorporate commitments to the general welfare, to our sense of network, and to the structure of popular government. While a move to the market may help charities accomplished these advantages, it might likewise put them in danger by concentrating office consideration and vitality on those parts of its tasks that can yield market returns. Subsequently, the quest for alluring social purposes can no more be underestimated on account of charitable associations than it can for some other kind of association. Or maybe, as a general public, we should set up systems and assurances to guarantee that in receiving the positive rewards that the market offers, nonprofit organizations are not allured or compelled to give up the fundamental social worth commitments that they are especially prepared to give.
