Money Isn't A Bad Word
It's necessary to do the great work we all want to do
Tell someone who works in higher education that universities are a business. Go ahead and try it … I’ll wait.
(Didn’t go well, did it?)
When I worked in higher education, vendors who approached our institutions talking about “the business” were summarily shown the door.
Righteous indignation would take hold as the doors to the ivory tower closed behind them. “Higher education is not a business.”
We are a non-profit. We are here to educate the next generation of scholars, scientists, and leaders. We have a much higher purpose—serving the greater good. We’re not here to make <holds nose> … money.
As if money was a bad word.
Even though it’s money that buys books and pays faculty. It’s money that upgrades the dormitories and builds new science facilities. It’s money that enables our institutions to exist, and to persist.
Universities are in the business of educating students (yep, I said it) and they cannot do that without money.
Every person and every organization needs money to survive. And yet, as a society we have an oddly complicated relationship with money.
On the one hand, we revere it. We idolize people who have lots of money, no matter how worthy they are of our admiration—and let’s face it, most are not at all worthy.
On the other hand, we try to distance ourselves from money. Money is dirty. Wanting to make money is distasteful, and speaking about it is even more so.
We see this sentiment in many education and non-profit organizations, of course, but it can be found in for-profit enterprises, too.
Even though our enterprises exist to make money, and even though the money our businesses make provides our paychecks, it’s still difficult for many professionals to connect the dots between their roles and an organization’s revenue and expenses.
We push back on the idea that our work should produce money (or reduce expenses).
Why is that? Is it because we want our work to have purpose, and somehow purpose and money are mutually exclusive? They’re not.
Money isn’t good or bad. We shouldn’t ascribe value to it, or to ourselves or others because of it. Money simply is.
And no matter what line of business we’re in (even the non-profit kind), money is necessary to do the great work we all want to do.
Bonus read: We want to feel passionate about our work, but is passion always good?
Is Passion The Problem?
Those who’ve worked in a non-profit, in education, or in some other purpose-driven organization know … you (often) do it for the mission, not the money.