Social Impact and Profit – Why Old Paycheck Ideas Don’t Apply
- May 5, 2025
- 4 min read
Written by Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO
Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises. Among his independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Funds2Orgs.
When young people graduate from high school or college, by and large, they’re looking to earn a good living and, in some cases, to also make the world a better place. They expect to be treated with ethics and fairness if they work in a company. And if they work in the social good sector, they are also looking for those things, of course (who isn't), but they're also seeking to make a social impact. However, making a difference and a sustainable wage aren't mutually exclusive.
If you've worked in the nonprofit sector or even a social enterprise, you shouldn't expect to make much money, or so that's what some managers may tell you. Maybe you've even heard something like, "It's not about the money." On the surface, the idea is about working toward something bigger and more important than yourself. Still, workers must pay rent and mortgages and provide for their families. Social impact doesn’t mean going broke.
The old social impact script: Making a difference means sacrifice
For generations, there’s been an idea that if someone cared about feeding the hungry or fighting climate change, they couldn’t do it and make a sustainable living for themselves. Unfortunately, all you have to do is to look at the current rate of salaries in the nonprofit sector versus the private sector for roughly the same job, and you’ll see the pay differential. In some cases, it can be significant, which isn’t good for the social impact or workers.
The fact of the matter is that a mission starved of financial resources, talent, and innovation will eventually fade. It doesn't have to be this way. Thinking that social good and profit are separate and distinct activities is a dated idea. There's no reason why, if a for-profit business or social enterprise succeeds, it can't invest in its talent. Moreover, with a purpose-driven brand, embracing profit and purpose is a way to accelerate growth.
Redefining profit in the context of social impact
Let’s break social impact and profit down a bit further. The goal isn't really profit, at least not exclusively. Yes, of course, you want to achieve a profit, and top talent that’s paid well helps to ensure a high retention rate. But there's more to profit than money in the bank of entrepreneurs and top performers, which allows a business to make an impressionable impact (including socially).
Paying a team what they deserve for the job ensures that employee retention remains high, especially when it’s so easy for talent to go elsewhere.
Profit also allows leaders to create systems that don't fall apart when funding cycles get tight (e.g., operations, HR, etc.).
Focused investment pushes a team to innovate and not just survive for the company and its bottom line and for an aligned social cause.
Reinvestment in a profit and social impact business allows for the expansion of services or products, reaching more potential customers.
When companies focus on making a difference rather than just making a profit, they have an opportunity to create greater engagement with more leads and customers.
In "My Story of Merging Profit with Green Entrepreneurship," I shared how my team built a global business helping communities and partners collect millions of used shoes and sneakers to make an impact on the environment and people’s lives. Yes, we’ve made money, but we’re also helping save the planet and the environment.
The real villain isn’t money, it’s false morality
One of the biggest challenges in the social good space isn’t lack of money; it’s guilt. Somehow, we’ve equated doing good with financial suffering, and nonprofits have placed it on their workers and even their donors. The truth is that "changemakers" aren't the ones who give up the most. They're not necessarily the geniuses. Global changemakers are those who don’t stay fixed in outdated systems or ideas that hold back progress.
We live in a world that's changing every day at a rate unseen in human history. Every day, we see new ideas and innovations that disrupt our ideas, concepts, and realities. When people think that social good and profit are mutually exclusive, we're telling people to think small and frankly undervalue themselves and what can happen. Our world needs more leaders to move from defense to offense in both social impact and profit.
What the new era of leadership requires
Every day seems like a “new era,” which demands more from leaders and workers. Let’s shore up the old silos between profit and compassion. Let’s grow and invest in companies, initiatives, the best nonprofit, and talent to be:
Visionary enough to imagine change.
Strategic enough to build sustainable systems.
Bold enough to charge for the value they create.
Accountable enough to measure the impact, not just the income.
Creating a sustainable and profitable world that lifts all boats is on the horizon. We can create sustainable jobs, growth, and opportunities and do right by people and the planet. Again, social impact doesn’t have to be about financial sacrifice. It’s about solutions that create a better future. When profit and purpose come together, we’re doing better for ourselves, our teams, and our communities.
© 2025 Wayne Elsey. All Rights Reserved.
Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO
Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises. Among his independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Funds2Orgs. This social enterprise helps nonprofits, schools, churches, civic groups, individuals, and others raise funds while helping to support micro-enterprise (small business) opportunities in developing nations and the environment.
