Lessons for the DoD from the nonprofit sector

Abstract

The objective of this MBA project is to examine the nonprofit sector as a source of lessons learned for the federal government and the Department of Defense. This paper provides a characterization of the nonprofit and public sectors to identify the attributes common to both sectors. Utilizing the similarities between the sectors, we make the case for the nonprofit sector as an untapped source of lessons learned for the public sector and DoD. We then demonstrate our case for nonprofit organizations as a source of lessons learned using the American Red Cross as an example as it shares many of the same challenges as the federal government.