I found the attempt to dress the business of Impact Makers in a cloak of drama and skepticism in poor taste (“Nonprofit Margins,” News & Features, Aug. 22). Though I’ve never had professional interaction with the organization, I’ve had the pleasure to meet Michael Pirron and found the business model that is apparently in question to be fascinating and noble. I applaud the efforts of him and his colleagues to explore socially conscious, for-profit ventures and partnerships.

The mere suggestion that the opportunity for fraud exists is unfair. It is a gentleman’s business where profits aren’t to be taken to add to one’s house collection. Altruism isn’t hard to find if one opens their eyes. Quit suggesting that good people attempting to do good business in a different way are an oddity.

Having clients who call you “Godsend” and return again and again is what makes businesses succeed. If they believe in you and you fulfill your obligations (“and then some,” as Ms. Heady states), that’s all that matters. The customer speaks louder than the academic who spends his time spewing skepticism about the adjustments of a business finding its balance. With all due respect, professor Richard Coughlan needs to spend a bit more time in the entrepreneurial trenches.

More power to Impact Makers and their “coopertition.”

C. Mason Gates
Richmond