Why nonprofits matter - Part 7

We take risks and innovate.

Nonprofits are a laboratory for new approaches to social services and social change. Many public services that we take for granted were started by the voluntary sector who proved the value of the endeavor: public libraries, schools and universities, animal shelters, services for people with disabilities, medical research, etc. Historically, nonprofits initiated these activities, then public awareness and commitment grew enough for government to take on delivery and/or funding of these important services.

One awesome story of nonprofit innovation is the origin of paramedics, a service started in the Black community in Pittsburgh in the 1960s. The community was poorly served by the first responders of the time and a nonprofit called Freedom House initiated a new program for mobile emergency medicine. The program was highly successful in improving health outcomes and was later copied and unfortunately coopted by surrounding white communities. Learn more via this podcast episode.

Today, nonprofits continue to invest in new ideas that aren’t yet profitable or popular enough to be taken up by the business or public sectors. Research to find effective treatments or cures for rare diseases are one example of nonprofit innovation.