Nonprofit Myths Finally Debunked!

Against All Odds; Donald Trump's Victory

Last week's election defied the odds and every electoral poll. Most of us are still shocked by the results and many are still protesting them. Regardless of what most thought was possible, Donald Trump claimed the presidency in a stunning upset that will shock Americans and the world, for years to come. Americans are frustrated with our elected officials and this became evident in this year's presidential election, resulting in Trump victories in both Democratic strongholds and Republican power centers.

When Trump takes office in January 2017 with congressional majorities in both houses, he will be the oldest president ever elected and the first to have no experience in government or military command. Although he will take office with a mandate of change unifying a country with a divided voter base will be an extreme challenge. While he is figuring it out, nonprofits must mobilize to ensure they continue support the communities they serve.

So What Now?

Actions by the new president and the Congress will impact nonprofits' abilities to advance their missions. So what must we do to get through the next four years?

Collaborate: Now more than ever, nonprofits across sectors, communities and identity groups must come together to support each other's work. In American culture, there is often a strong emphasis on competition where individuals and groups work independently so they can be the best, the most effective and the most successful. Nonprofits will need to make a shift from competition to collaboration to achieve more when groups come together; help one another; and pool resources, whenever possible. Making the shift is not easy; it takes time. Groups will have to establish trust and build safeguards into their process to ensure that they are looking out for one another's interests. But collaboration will be necessary.

Advocate: Nonprofits have to come together to engage in advocacy, a task that many find difficult when they have limited resources for programming and much less to conduct advocacy. They must advocate at all levels and branches of government to make sure that their representatives fully understand the impact of policy proposals on the communities they serve. And to help them do so, foundations must invest in nonprofits to do this work.

Educate: Let your participants know how this election will impact your services. Get them ready to mobilize if they have to. Your participants are your greatest advocates; they know first hand what communities would be like without your services. The more you educate them about what you do and the impact you are making, the better advocates they will be.

The next four years are not going to be easy, but nonprofits are resilient. They know how to work with few resources. They know how to be creative in order to provide their services. And above all, like Trump, they know how to survive against all odds.

Reading NonProfit PRO’s recent piece on “Debunking the 10 Biggest Nonprofit Myths” felt like a breath of fresh air. It was like finally hearing someone say out loud what so many of us have known for years: the misconceptions surrounding nonprofit work aren’t just frustrating—they’re damaging. For those of us working in the sector every day—balancing mission-driven urgency with operational realities—it’s a relief to see common misconceptions so clearly challenged and laid to rest.

Take Myth #1, “Nonprofits can’t make a profit.” It’s astonishing how persistent this idea is, despite the fact that financial sustainability is what allows nonprofits to exist in the first place. As the article points out, nonprofits can and should generate surpluses—those funds are reinvested into programs, people, and infrastructure, not distributed to shareholders. Without this reinvestment, nonprofits can’t grow or sustain impact.

Then there’s Myth #4, “Overhead is bad.” This is perhaps one of the most harmful tropes we face. When donors fixate on the percentage spent on administration instead of outcomes, it penalizes nonprofits for investing in strong leadership, staff development, evaluation, and communications—investments that are essential for effectiveness and scale.

And I couldn’t help but nod along to Myth #9, “Nonprofit staff are mostly volunteers.” This erasure of the skilled, underpaid, and overworked professionals who drive mission work every day is part of what fuels burnout and undervaluation. Nonprofit staff are strategists, technologists, fundraisers, policy advocates, and frontline workers—and they deserve the same respect and compensation as their for-profit peers.

Let’s be honest: the myths around nonprofit work have real consequences. The idea that nonprofits should “run lean” discourages investment in staff, infrastructure, and innovation—critical elements that any mission-focused organization needs to achieve real impact. When people assume nonprofits are run entirely by volunteers or shouldn't spend on marketing or overhead, they ignore the sophistication and strategy required to solve entrenched problems like poverty, inequity, and climate injustice.

I particularly appreciated the article’s reframing of the term “nonprofit” itself. Nonprofits are not defined by what they aren’t—they’re purpose-driven enterprises reinvesting every dollar back into the community, into systems change, and into people’s lives. The myth that “nonprofits don’t make money” misses the point. Nonprofits generate value—economic, cultural, and social—and they do it under stricter constraints than many of their for-profit peers.

As a sector, nonprofits need to keep pushing back on outdated narratives. Not just for the sake of their own operations, but for the public trust and donor support that are vital to their work. So, share this article widely. Talk to your boards, your funders, your partners. The more we confront these myths, the more room we make for meaningful, sustainable, and unapologetically powerful nonprofit work.

This article is more than a myth-busting exercise, it’s a call to action. It invites us to reframe the way we talk about the sector and to educate funders, board members, and the public about what it really takes to deliver mission-aligned impact. Let's make sure these truths echo beyond our walls.

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Against All Odds; Donald Trump's Victory

So What Now?

Nonprofit Myths Finally Debunked!

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