Research and development (R&D) is a critical process for any company. It is through this process that a company can create new products or services and improve on existing ones.

At its most basic level, research and development is about generating new ideas. A company’s research and development team will brainstorm new ideas and then test them to see if they are feasible. If they are, the team will then develop a plan for bringing the product or service to market.

However, this process can be expensive, time-consuming, and requires a specific type of support and investment that typically for-profit businesses have access to.

Innovation for Non-Profit vs. For-Profit

In most cases, for-profit businesses have an R&D department, a products and services department, and an infrastructure department. Each department works together to create a functioning innovation process for the company.

R&D: 

• Tests new ideas
• Develops new products or services 
• Evaluates customer feedback to improve products or services 
• Monitors competition and industry trends

Products and Services:

• Distributes products and services to customers
• Oversees the creation and production of products and services
• Make sure that the products and services are made to the highest quality standards
• Manages inventory

Infrastructure:

• Bookkeeping
• Accounting
• Human Resources

Often, non-profit organizations don’t have the same resources as for-profit businesses. Thus, the innovation process of a non-profit typically looks a bit different. They have a programs department rather than a products and services department and an overhead, or administrative department instead of an infrastructure department.

Programs:

• Develops and oversees programs that fulfill the mission of the organization 
• Creates and manage programs that meet the needs of the target population
• Provides leadership and support for program staff

Administration:

• Provides general support to the organization
• Includes functions such as accounting, human resources, and information technology 
• Helps to ensure that the organization is able to operate smoothly and efficiently

It becomes hard to find room for R&D. The lack of resources and space leads to not being able to investigate promising ideas. At the very least, non-profits will try and squeeze the R&D process into programming or overhead.