Necessity Nonprofit Entrepreneurship: A Study of Extrinsically Motivated Nascent Nonprofit Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Individuals creating new nonprofit organizations are often viewed as being driven by intrinsic and altruistic motives pulling them into becoming a nonprofit entrepreneur. However, individuals can also be pushed towards self-employment in the nonprofit sector because of negative external forces, a phenomenon labeled necessity nonprofit entrepreneurship. This article explores necessity nonprofit entrepreneurs to illustrate how they differ from those not explicitly driven by necessity in starting up a new nonprofit, and what policy implications and questions necessity nonprofit entrepreneurship raises for nonprofit stakeholders.