The Moralization of Commercialization: Uncovering the History of Fee-Charging in the U.S. Nonprofit Human Services Sector

Abstract

Recent literature on commercialization in the American nonprofit sector attributes increased reliance on fee income to neoliberal policies. This trend is often depicted as an invasion of market forces that debase civil society by reducing social values and interpersonal relations to commodities and transactions. My article challenges these beliefs by presenting historical data that have been largely ignored in recent writing. Examining a series of multicity financial reports, I demonstrate that the U.S. nonprofit human services sector increased its fee-reliance significantly before neoliberal policy changes. Drawing on social work literature, I show that the practice of fee-charging reflected an ethos of communal inclusiveness rather than mere profit-seeking. In light of this evidence, I argue that fee-charging should be understood as a long-standing and multivalent feature of the nonprofit human services sector rather than as a recent incursion of profit-driven rationalities.