However, if we imagine everyone behaving according to these rules, we wind up with very few (incompetent) people running a few charities with piles of cash.
If the choice is between charities making antimalarial drugs run by competent people, and charities making (more useful) mosquito nets run by incompetent people, then yes on the short term you might see incompetent people with loads of cash, but then other charities will probably pop up making malarial nets with low overhead, and then they’ll get the most donarions.
Or if you’re concerned about competent people all getting a “real” job and donating money: it’s only rational to do so when the marginal utility of volunteering is less than the marginal utility of working and donating. If that’s the case now (too many volunteers, not enough money), that doesn’t mean that all volunteers should stop and go get a job.
If the choice is between charities making antimalarial drugs run by competent people, and charities making (more useful) mosquito nets run by incompetent people, then yes on the short term you might see incompetent people with loads of cash, but then other charities will probably pop up making malarial nets with low overhead, and then they’ll get the most donarions.
Or if you’re concerned about competent people all getting a “real” job and donating money: it’s only rational to do so when the marginal utility of volunteering is less than the marginal utility of working and donating. If that’s the case now (too many volunteers, not enough money), that doesn’t mean that all volunteers should stop and go get a job.