The Commercialization of the Nonprofit Sector: A General Systems Theory Perspective

A prominent theme in the modern multidisciplinary nonprofit studies is that commercial activities of nonprofit organizations impair the ability of these organizations to deliver their missions. The present research note argues that this criticism of nonprofit commercialization is based on what von Bertalanffy designated as the "mechanistic" view of the nonprofit sector. The research note utilizes von Bertalanffy's general systems theory to argue that nonprofit organizations are open systems maintaining themselves in an environment in which the supply of critical resources is insecure. Accordingly, commercial activities must be seen as the self-regulatory mechanism that enables, rather than hinders, nonprofit organizations to deliver their missions in hostile environments, as they often are today.