Stanford Social Innovation Review

When donor gifts are public, social approbation is reward enough.

THE UNFINISHED PRESIDENCY by Douglas Brinkley

From pink ribbons to Product Red, cause marketing adroitly serves two masters, earning profits for corporations while raising funds for charities. Yet the short-term benefits of cause marketing—also known as consumption philanthropy—belie its long-term costs. These hidden costs include individualizing solutions to collective problems; replacing virtuous action with mindless buying; and hiding how markets create many social problems in the first place. Consumption philanthropy is therefore unsuited to create real social change. —By Angela M. Eikenberry

MONEY WELL SPENT: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy by Paul Brest and Hal Harvey

How foundations can best support social innovators. 

New research estimates the value of the services provided by faith-based organizations.

Many philanthropists refrain from online giving.

When Nau, an outdoor clothing start-up from Portland, Ore., launched in 2005, word on the street had it that the company would push socially responsible business to new heights. But barely a year after putting its earth-toned parkas and virgin merino wool sweaters up for sale in its übercool “webfront” stores, Nau pulled the plug. Find out how Nau tried on too much, too fast. —By Suzie Boss

PHILANTHROCAPITALISM: How the Rich Can Save the World by Matthew Bishop & Michael Green

A new evaluation tool allows donors and investors to track their investments and compare their data to those of organizations doing similar work. 

The Posse Foundation sends diverse students to college together so that they can lean on each other and lead their schools.

In the for-profit world, the term “investment” has clear meaning and investors have sophisticated techniques for spotting and growing the most promising companies. Yet foundations and other nonprofit donors have not developed similar clarity or approaches. As a result, the nonprofit sector’s greatest gems often languish well below their full potential. By better translating for-profit concepts, donors can learn how to scout out and grow the best nonprofits. Likewise, certain nonprofits can take a page from business’s playbook and learn how to attract cash for expansion.

MBA students turn their attention to social enterprise.