Nonprofits are tackling humanity’s most complex problems — but without the fundamental infrastructure afforded our private sector counterparts.

There is an old saying about Ginger Rogers: She did everything Fred Astaire did — except backwards and in high heels. I believe the same could be said about the social sector — we’re the Ginger Rogers to the private sector’s Fred Astaire.

While the social sector addresses entrenched issues, often ones that have perplexed humanity for generations, a major problem hinders that work: The basic infrastructure that bolsters the private sector is nonexistent for nonprofits. My organization has been lucky to have access to support, but after 30 years in the sector, I know we’re an exception. Challenges undercutting the field include:

  • Legal Issues
  • Financial Matters
  • Access To Data
  • Investment

The social sector has been trying to address the lack of infrastructure by bending existing institutions. This strategy has been ineffective. It is time to build solutions specifically for the sector. From my perspective, we have a myriad of models and ideas to draw upon that could prove instructive for the nonprofit sector.

Read the full article about nonprofit infrastructure by Kyle Zimmer at Forbes.