We had an email come in today with a question that I thought was so good that I decided to post and answer it publicly. The question was:

"Hello, I recently had someone challenge me about why the term "third sector" is used as it implies that it comes after business and government. How do you respond when your brand is built on this term? Thanks!"

My response was:

Great question! Most societies categorize organizations into three main groups -- Government, For-profit, and Not-for-profit. Commerce and government have been around for thousands of years, but organized charity, as a well-defined category, has only been around for several hundreds of years. So, the first answer is that the community benefit sector is often referred to as the "third sector" because it is historically the newest on the scene. I should mention, too, that some people are beginning to refer to a "fourth sector" that is comprised of hybrid organizations or partnerships that in some way or other combine government, for-profit and/or not-for-profit organizations with the intent of positively impacting the community at large. The second answer is that the term "third" in this case doesn't have any rank-related meaning to it, like coming in third in a foot race would. And, finally, we recently rebranded and chose Third Sector Connector as our name because it is more global in scope.

I'm sure there are other members who can weigh in here, too, and we welcome all participation! What do you think about calling it the "third" sector?

Mark