Time horizons are longer in business financing. Funders behave as if the world will be saved in 36 months or less, but business ventures understand that five to seven years are required to create something of value. And firms financing business ventures close closely with those in which they're investing. However, despite much talk about partnerships, foundations prefer to keep some distance from nonprofits. The nature of the relationship after the grant is made is one of reports, oversight and evaluation.
Nonprofits are well-known for delivering services.
However, that usually involves applying technology or intervention models to a problem. Having a service focus means keeping the participation of clients at the center of the development and adaptation of services. Demonstrating comparative value requires benchmarking, which is the organized comparison of your products, services or processes with similar ones to discover how you might improve. This challenges even the most stalwart of nonprofits that pride themselves on being learning organizations. Benchmarking requires documented processes and standards for services.