logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Is the “Mission-Driven” Facebook a Social Enterprise?

Alicia E. Plerhoples
September 17, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Zuckerberg

September 13, 2012; Source: TIME

In his speech at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2012 conference in San Francisco last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the social media giant as a “mission-driven company” and expressed enthusiasm about the mission of the company – beyond its financial mission. He didn’t seem to use the concept of mission in the same controversial (misguided, some say) way that Salesforce.com recently tried to trademark the term “social enterprise.” Rather, he seemed to have used the concept of “mission” in a context suited more toward nonprofit organizations than to a for-profit public company. Is Facebook a social enterprise? What is a mission-driven business?

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

At the tech conference, Zuckerberg went on to say that to achieve a mission, an organization has to have talented employees and in order to attract such employees, the organization needs to make money – and a lot of it at that. This viewpoint echoes the often-heard sentiment of social entrepreneurs that they want to “do well by doing good,” where doing well is equated with making money. It is telling that Zuckerberg did not use the term “social enterprise,” but instead said “mission-driven.” Mission-driven businesses, in the social-spectrum nomenclature, can be thought of as a close relative of social enterprises. Mission-driven businesses do not necessarily prioritize social or environmental missions over their revenue-generating activities or earned-income strategies, but are still interested in a larger mission or goal other than profitability.

Zuckerberg’s claim to this specific term shows that nomenclature on the spectrum between for-profit and nonprofit is important. There is no universally accepted definition of “social enterprise,” so it means different things to different people. Nonetheless, universal nomenclature can give power and legitimacy to an idea or movement as well as deter other potential users from distorting or co-opting the idea. According to the Social Enterprise Alliance, “social enterprises are businesses whose primary purpose is the common good. They use the methods and disciplines of business and the power of the marketplace to advance their social, environmental and human justice agendas.” This doesn’t quite sound like a definition that fits Facebook—after all, is Facebook’s primary purpose really the common good? Investors may be disappointed (and feeling litigious) if this were true. –Alicia Plerhoples

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
Putting the “Social” Back in Social Enterprise: An Evidence-Based Approach
Reece Steinberg
Want Effective Stakeholder Governance? Say Hello to Social Cooperatives
J. Howard Kucher
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of Mutual Aid
Steve Dubb
We Owe You Nothing: The Movement to Cancel Student Debt Gains Ground
Rithika Ramamurthy
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis
Green New Deal or Stale Old Tax-Break Scam? Getting Electric Vehicle Incentives Right
Greg LeRoy

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
Putting the “Social” Back in Social Enterprise: An...
Reece Steinberg
Want Effective Stakeholder Governance? Say Hello to Social...
J. Howard Kucher
Edgar Cahn’s Second Act: Time Banking and the Return of...
Steve Dubb
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.