Stanford Social Innovation Review

Development experts have long known that educating girls is one of the surest ways to improve life for everyone in poor countries. Yet the path to school has not been smooth for many girls—especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past 17 years, however, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) has delivered high-quality education to millions of girls across 35 African countries. The secret to FAWE’s scale and impact, say its leaders, is its flexibility.

When disaster strikes, government often rely on nonprofits and businesses to pitch in with relief efforts. But making up for the public sector’s shortcomings is neither an appropriate nor effective use of the private sector’s strengths. Instead of mopping after government failures, nonprofits and businesses should lobby governments to focus more on disaster mitigation and less on disaster relief. An ounce of the private sector’s advocacy would be worth more than a pound of its response.

In Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a series of vignettes brings to life the struggles and courage of unforgettable women who are, as the book’s subtitle suggests, turning oppression into opportunity.

During its first 10 years, Creative Capital has pumped $14 million into 324 projects from a range of artistic disciplines. But Creative Capital doesn’t just fund projects, it builds careers.

“By paying so much attention to managing their own risks, philanthropists are no longer attending to the marginalized people who risk so much to make change happen,” says Sheela Patel in this First Person.

Recessions are not sprints; they are endurance events. Find out how nonprofits are faring during the toughest recession in more than 30 years and learn the seven healthy habits of nonprofits that endure.

In recent decades, nonprofits have significantly increased the size of their endowments. Yet during the current economic crisis, they made scant use of their sizable holdings. Instead of drawing down their endowments to offset losses of income, nonprofits resorted to cutting programs and personnel, sometimes dramatically. To prepare for future financial downturns, nonprofits should treat endowments as rainy day funds, not cut programs to preserve the endowment.

Designers have traditionally focused on enhancing the look and functionality of products.  Recently, they have begun using design tools to tackle more complex problems, such as finding ways to provide low-cost healthcare throughout the world.  Businesses were first to embrace this new approach—called design thinking—now nonprofits are beginning to adopt it too.

THE DESIGN OF BUSINESS: Why Design Thinking Is the Next Competitive Advantage by Roger L. Martin