Thus, nonprofit organizations can play an important role in delivering services that are susceptible to exploitation by the profit motive such as health care and social services. Nonprofit organizations rely upon the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations. In addition, individuals will volunteer their time to nonprofit organizations that often have limited paid manpower. This generosity enables nonprofit organizations to meet societal needs that those in need are unable to pay for themselves in the market and that others are unwilling to pay for through taxes. Thus, the philanthropy of the nonprofit organization represents the voluntary pursuit of the public interest.
Nonprofit organizations embody the commitment of civic entrepreneurs.
Just as we are coming to understand and appreciate the significance of the nonprofit sector, the negative impacts of transformations in public institutions and markets threaten to weaken nonprofit organizations. Governments are downsizing, reinventing themselves, and redefining their mandates to deal with critical public problems. Simultaneously, the world of business is facing new international economic competition as well as information and technological revolutions that are forcing companies to rethink their market strategies and investment priorities. These trends place new expectations on nonprofit organizations at the same time public funding and corporate support is harder to win. Although philanthropy and volunteerism are key facets of nonprofit organizations, the growth of the sector since the 1960s has been fueled, in part, by government funding of nonprofit activities.