If, for example, they are providing health services in a deprived neighborhood, they cannot simply close down when it suits them, leaving a community unserved. Obviously nonprofits need to be viable financially in order to stay in business, and we want to assure that the new competition stimulates improved performance. But we must not allow competitive pressures to undermine the basic mission of nonprofits or their commitment to the public good. In this time of reassessment, the role of the nonprofit sector must also be considered in relation to government and the for-profit sector. Blanket criticism of the competence of government, and the federal government in particular, is wrongheaded and counterproductive.
Government is the democratic foundation for public participation.
We must not be deluded into thinking that private institutions, whether for-profit or nonprofit, can take the place of government. It is a time for rethinking the relationships of the diverse sectors that shape our society, and to claim for the nonprofit sector the important role appropriate to its participatory character, flexibility, and concern for the public welfare. Some people and groups have proposed a narrow view, wherein the only good philanthropy is local volunteer relief work to meet the immediate needs of poor people. If philanthropy only does relief work, no matter how important, then we are throwing out the crucial nonprofit activities engaged in by universities, arts institutes, hospitals, and citizen advocacy groups. Such a view does not even allow for efforts to confront the root causes of poverty.