Stanford Social Innovation Review

Contrary to stereotypes, people grow more liberal and tolerant as they age. 

Despite temptations to broaden its focus, the Rural Development Institute has remained single-mindedly devoted to its mission. As a result, the organization has helped 400 million poor farmers around the world take ownership of some 270 million acres of land – all on a modest budget.

Why Portland’s ReBuilding Center refuses to franchise, but is happy to share.

How an ecotourism company and a native community share power in Peru.

The Population Media Center mixes science with soap operas to protect public health.

How Changemakers’ “collaborative competitions” harness the wisdom of crowds.

Few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how to achieve them. If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate poverty, the authors say, then MFIs should focus on helping their clients build successful enterprises, rather than on making more and bigger loans.

Corporations that violate human rights not only inflict suffering, but also hurt their bottom line. The authors suggest five principles that corporations can follow to improve their human rights footprint.

Social entrepreneurs not only must understand the broad environment in which they work, but also must shape those environments to support their goals, when feasible. Borrowing insights from the field of ecology, the authors offer an ecosystems framework to help social entrepreneurs create long-lasting and significant social change.

Multinational corporations are in a quandary: Stakeholders are imposing higher standards than ever, but businesses are confused about what their global social responsibilities actually are.

Newspapers do a poor job of reporting on the nonprofit sector.

Workers paid by the hour are less likely to volunteer than are salaried employees.