Core infrastructure (domain registration, SSL certs, IP addresses, peering exchanges) mostly need administration and maintenance. But NGOs in this space seem haunted by a compulsion to do more. It's interesting - and possibly correct - that the leadership projected their own feelings onto the staff here. They're basically throwing their hands up and saying "but that's boring!"

Handing humans a revenue stream and a dictate to "keep a steady hand on the tiller" seems prone to the same failure mode as asking a proverbial AI to "just make us some paperclips".