Nonprofits focus on business of fundraising

Many nonprofit organizations depend on fundraisers, government grants and private donations for money. A new Long Island organization thinks they should try being more like companies that find ways of making money on their own.

Paul Arfin, an early Peace Corps volunteer who has spent his career working with nonprofits, has started a Long Island chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance, which has 11 chapters across the country. His first meeting will be at Woodbury Country Club at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

"We all know that government and traditional fundraising is just not enough these days," said Arfin. "And we have a growing need for more social services on Long Island" due to the weak economy. "If we're going to wait for the government or for people to buy tickets to golf tournaments, we're not going to meet the demand." Nonprofits could open retail stores, as some have done, as an example, Arfin said.

Arfin has put together a founding board of advisers and hopes to hold workshops and other sessions for nonprofits.

Board member Julie Samkoff, executive director of Garden City-based Community Mainstreaming Associates, which provides residential alternatives to institutional living, said some nonprofits are already adopting business methods to raise money. "We're going to find ways to use business methods in a way that makes positive differences in peoples' lives," she said.

Fran Karliner, president of the Long Island chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, said the idea sounds a bit "vague" to her but she's willing to keep an open mind and may attend the Dec. 13 meeting. "It doesn't supplant what we do," Karliner said.