• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Non-profit founder critics

Published: Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Why are people so critical when young people start non-profits?

Time and time again, I hear people say, "there are enough non-profits out there.  Young people should just join what's already out there.  I don't think starting another non-profit is the best use of resources.  I mean, I started my own, but…"

Starting a non-profit is hard.  It takes time, money and resources.  Starting a company is hard.  It takes time, money and resources.

When someone is thinking of starting a company, such as a new mobile app, no one ever says, "you should just join X mobile app company, you'll be able to make more of an impact that way".  Because it's not true.  So why do we say that to would-be non-profit founders?

There are many innovative, sustainably non-profit business models now that do good, while doing well.

Why can't we just accept that like in the capital marketplace, the best non-profits will survive, and the others won't.

The non-profit founders, the founders, the crazy ones - these are the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world - but they need all the help they can get getting there.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • My lockdown life

    Lockdown is certainly a change of pace for me. I used to fly around the world twice a month! Now I’m stuck inside my 768 sq ft apartment for months...

  • Phoenix, Arizona

    I love exploring new cities! So I was super thrilled to visit Phoenix in Arizona, and speak at ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference as their opening...

  • World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

    Spoke in Hong Kong at the the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) on 9 July.  The WAGGGS is the largest voluntary organisation...

  • Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce Trade Mission

    I led a trip to Israel with Wyatt Roy, Assistant Minister for Innovation, for a group of 45 entrepreneurs, politicians and business people, in order to...

  • Australian of the Year Award winners video

    The Australian Department of Home Affairs decided to celebrate the Australian of the Year awards with this short animated video of past award...

  • Ogilvy

    A lot of successful entrepreneurs dropped out of school (Richard Branson) or university (Bill Gates).  But Ogilvy, who went on to become a famous ad...

  • Hot Desq

    My company, aubot, was recently invited to go to Queensland for 6 months, as part of Advance Queensland's Hot Desq program, to inspire local...

  • Robogals Asia Pacific SINE 2014

    Robogals Asia Pacific SINE Perth 2014.  120 participants from Australia, Philippines, Japan, New Zealand and China.  Our biggest SINE to date! SINE...

  • Q&A

    Q&A on ABC alongside two Nobel Laureates:  Peter Doherty and Brian Schmidt, Chief Scientist of Australia Ian Chubb and respected microbiologist...

  • Aipolyglot

    My cofounder in Aipoly is Italian, so we went to Italy to promote, due to popular demand, Aipoly’s availability in 7 languages - English, French,...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top