February 17, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
What is the silliest critique of social entrepreneurship? That just because there already may be too many nonprofit groups, someone with a great idea and the ability to deliver on it shouldn’t start another one.
Nathaniel Whittemore, director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, writes on Change.org that of course it is important that someone who starts a charity be able to lead it effectively. He says he agrees that “students shouldn’t just naively jump into starting their own nonprofits.”
But Mr. Whittemore says that “the thing that drives me absolutely nuts about the ‘we don’t need more nonprofits’ line is that it contains an embedded argument that because the field is congested now, somehow new entrants aren’t welcome.”
He wonders: Just because there may be many ineffective charities that linger because a donor or two agree with their mission, does that really mean that strong leaders with great ideas should be shut out?
What do you think?
