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Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus
CF - I was making a joke - sort of. I truly don't understand what makes a non-profit/not-for profit company. I interviewed for a job with a non-profit engineering company. I asked the owner "do you get paid?" and he said, "Of course I do." So how is that different from a for-profit engineering company? I'm just confused.
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I knew you were joking. The primary difference between a profit and a non-profit business is a for-profit business has a direct owner, whereas a non-profit kind of "owns itself". Their employees get paid a set salary, and any money over that goes towards whatever the function of the nonprofit is. They'll have a board of directors who make decisions for the company, but none of them get to take home any extra money if the non-profit has a record year. No one owns stock in the company. If the head of the board of directors wants to leave he just leaves, he can't sell the business to someone else because he doesn't own it. Think of it like a college fraternity, they collect dues and throw a party, but if they don't end up spending it all they just spend the money on the next party, the head of the fraternity doesn't get to just keep the extra money. When he graduates, they put someone else in charge, he doesn't get to take the fraternity with him.