February 28, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
An anonymous blog writer is making fun of what might be the hottest trend in the nonprofit world — establishing businesses to support an environmental or social cause.
“It’s the new thing— let’s stop this foolishness about doing good for the love of our fellows, or because the work needs to be done, or whatever other motive drives people to work under the nonprofit umbrella. Away with all that angst and inefficiency. Social betterment can make money,” she writes on her blog, Happening Here.
The writer, who identifies herself as Janinsanfran, is upset by a recent New York Times article about ePals, a Web company owned by a charity. The business enterprise tries to improve education by selling an electronic pen-pal service and other Internet tools.
Janinsanfran speculates that with ePals’s business model still shaky, it could fail like other Internet ventures.
“Hmm, perhaps it will turn out to be an ordinary nonprofit after all — limping along doing educational work because living in human society demands that some of us invest our creativity and capital in maintaining the common good. What a concept!” she writes.
What do you think? Have so-called social entrepreneurs received too much attention? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
