Tag: Innovation
The Key to Capacity Building Is Funding Long-Term Health Not Short-Term Workouts
Philanthropists: Rather than making periodic grants that focus on capacity building, embed capacity-building funding into each and every grant you make.
Social Innovations Must Start with a “Worm’s-Eye View”
Social entrepreneurs are solving big problems from the bottom up, with low-risk actions taken to discover, develop, and test ideas.
The Era of Abstract Philanthropy
It would be a great thing for an era of Abstract Philanthropy to open our eyes to understanding the very essence of the philanthropic act.
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Third Sector Grit: Minnesota Nice
Third Sector Grit refers to those community champions in each nonprofit who do not have the larger titles but who are individuals that the organization could not move forward without.
Early Thoughts About Jumo
Jumo is a new and much heralded social networking site for stimulating, coordinating, and occasionally funding social change. Here are some early impressions.
Social Capital Markets: What Are the Most Important Signs of Progress?
I probably first heard the term “social capital market” about 10 years ago. As with all commonly adopted jargon, though, it’s hard to remember where I first came across the term. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as I’m preparing for this years Social Capital Markets conference in San Francisco next month. I’ll be appearing on a panel in the Tactical Philanthropy track representing GiveWell, where I serve on the board. Alongside representatives from Charity Navigator and Root Cause, we’ll be walking through approaches to evaluating an organization; in this case the DC Central Kitchen.
The intent of the conference, now in its third year, is to help build social capital markets. This year in particular the theme is “what’s next?” But I’ve been thinking... (continue reading this blog post)
Forums for Intellectual Nutrition
Ethan Zuckerman of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society recently announced his goal to track his media consumption, testing his hypothesis that many of us overestimate the extent to which we’re exposed to diverse, unique, and new ideas. In fact, he posited, in his TED talk and elsewhere, that many of us are likely “imaginary cosmopolitans,” convinced we’re exposing ourselves to diverse streams of online and offline information when in fact we’re perpetually prey to the self-imposed “echo chambers” of our predilections and selection biases.
This may be true, writ large. It also corroborates the fact that entrepreneurs are often... (continue reading this blog post)
REDF Leverages First Social Innovation Fund Grant
As we prepared our application for the federal Social Innovation Fund (SIF) there were times that I struggled with a hard-earned skepticism about the latest silver bullet solution to domestic social problems. I’ve spent 25 years trying to find ways to counter the destructive effects of chronic poverty. A $50 million federal program—a fraction of the resources needed—did not seem to merit the intense focus it attracted from the social sector.
But one remarkable thing about people is that hope springs eternal even in the most dire circumstances. Fanning that resilient and optimistic flame is at the center of the work of the social sector. And it’s at the heart of the success... (continue reading this blog post)
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