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501(c)Files | Nonprofit News

‘I Am Only One’

by Tom Durso on October 29th, 2007

How many people sell widgets because, dammit, they really love widgets?

Bet it’s not as many as the number of professionals doing nonprofit work because they believe viscerally in the missions of their respective organizations. Sometimes, though, it helps to be reminded of that, and Rosetta Thurman, in her blog Perspectives from the Pipeline, does so passionately and well today:

It was philanthropy that had provided me an enhanced education as a child. It was nonprofits that had come to our aid when we couldn’t make ends meet. It was philanthropy that had helped me to pay for college. Somebody did it for me, and I wanted to help someone else. That’s how I got introduced to the nonprofit world and have known that’s where I am called to do my life’s work ever since.

Thurman’s post is powerful and personal and very, very inspiring. If you need a kick in the pants to tell you to go do some meaningful work, you could do worse than spending a couple of minutes reading it. | 501(c)

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3 opinions for ‘I Am Only One’

  • Sean Stannard-Stockton
    Oct 30, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    I agree, but isn’t this point also true of the best for-profits? Doesn’t Starbucks do what they do because they care about great coffee? Or Apple do what they do because they care about incredibly well designed technology? Doesn’t Google have a passion for making information accessible?

    I don’t think it is the tax status of an organization that makes the work it does meaningful. It is the mission of the organization.

    Thanks for joining the conversation, Tom.

  • Tactical Philanthropy » links for 2007-10-31
    Oct 31, 2007 at 3:29 am

    […] The 501(c) Files: I Am Only One Tom Durso talks about the meaning behind nonprofit work. I suggest in a comment that mission creates meaning, not an organization’s tax status. (tags: blog) […]

  • Tom Durso
    Oct 31, 2007 at 4:41 pm

    Definitely true for the best for-profits, Sean, though I think it’s a more representative trait of nonprofits. Keep the conversation going!

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