March 7, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Tom Belford, a veteran fund raiser, has a tongue-in-cheek take on the growing number of nonprofit organizations that are popping up in the United States.
Writing for The Agitator, Mr. Belford gives a Letterman-style Top 10 list of the reasons philanthropic-minded people are starting their own charities.
Among the reasons:
- I signed an online petition once to stop world hunger…and nothing happened.
- I couldn’t find an existing group with a chartreuse wrist bracelet.
- Hey, Bono did it. My ego’s just as big.
Mr. Belford’s list, however, is designed to make a larger point: “Existing organizations can exhaust their founding spirit. Become insulated against fresh ideas and new blood. Resist change. Confuse process with results. Even pursue bad ideas…But c’mon. Hasn’t the barrier to entry gotten too low?”
What do you think? Is the growing number of U.S. nonprofit groups hurting our effectiveness at doing good? Discuss your thoughts by clicking on the link just below this posting.
