You say tomato, I say tomah-to...

Names matter. What we call things matters. Ask George Lakoff. Or Karl Rove. Or Louis Armstrong.

There is growing agreement that "nonprofit sector" is the wrong name, so what is the right name? Paul Shoemaker, a careful reader of Alliance Magazine, points out these three possibilities, all posited in the October issue:

• citizen sector (Bill Drayton, ASHOKA)
• social profit  organizations / sector (Claire Gaudiani, The Greater Good)
• public benefit  corporations / sector (Peter Hero, Silicon Valley Community Foundation)
  

Those who wish to change the name - so that the sector is no longer defined by what it is not - should come up with one option, not three. Actually, there are  more than three - independent sector and nongovernmental organizations come to mind. Bill Drayton is usually identified as a social entrepreneur - where does that fit into the discussion?

What term do you use? How would you go about getting agreement on - and widespread use of - a single new term?

Tags: philanthropy