Is Your Chamber a Business or Non-Profit?

Businesses care most about their most profitable clients, yet most chambers spend most of their time and energy on the members who pay the least. They try to provide a bigger ROI to low-paying members who demand it, and in doing so drive their own expenses higher.

Non-profits sell a vision to their biggest contributors. They know that the return their big investors are looking for is a community return. Many chambers approach these donors as customers who want products, trying to cater to them by providing tables at events and advertising on their website. “Value” that these big investors don’t find valuable.

Businesses are focused on the bottom line. Could we charge more for this good or service than it cost us to produce? Non-profits focus on the organizational mission. Could we advance our mission, even if we lost money doing so?

Chambers need to do both and need to know when they are doing what. It is okay to lose money on events that forward the mission. It’s okay to hold events that aren’t mission focused but raise money.

Losing money on an activity that doesn’t forward your mission? Cut it now.

Have an activity that both makes money and forwards the mission? That activity is the gold star of your Chamber.

Keep it. Brag on it. Replicate it.

Operating like a business means more than just managing expenses. Operating like a non-profit means more than just losing money. Incorporate the best practices of each, and you’ll have a high performing organization.