Social enterprise

You can’t move away from what scares you.

New research suggests that social entrepreneurs may benefit from short bursts of business exposure.

Best practices based on an analysis of more than 40 regional initiatives.

Most businesspeople will serve on the board of a nonprofit organization at some point. But the governance of nonprofits can differ dramatically from the governance of businesses. Even the best intentions can prove disastrous when new board members fail to understand that their traditional business experience can carry them only so far.

Social ventures earn their stripes the same way private enterprises do.

How can profit-making enterprises justify investments in philanthropic causes? One executive offers four criteria for ensuring that charitable initiatives pay off both socially and economically.

One important thing about cities is their sex appeal — their magnetism. Places flourish when they attract people, resources, opportunities, and ideas, and match them to one another. Cities are much more than the built environment of roads and real estate. Cities are about relationships, and whether people have access to opportunities. Cities are one […]

Satisfied with doing good, too few foundations work strategically to do better.

From the financial crisis to the environment.

One is rarer than the other.

Social media, social enterprise, social era… Do we even know what we’re saying anymore?

Editor’s note: This post is one in an occasional series on Vijay Govindarajan’s and Christian Sarkar’s idea to create a scalable housing solution for the world’s poor. Each post will examine the challenge from a different perspective, including design, technology, urban planning and more. Today, Douglas K. Smith looks at ways to make sure project […]

Traditionally, business viewed the social sector as a dumping ground for spare cash, obsolete equipment, and tired executives. But today smart companies are approaching it as a learning laboratory.

A pioneer of cause-related marketing explains how to make it pay off—for the company and for the charity.

Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine are the authors of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want In 2008, companies will abandon their much-hyped reliance on those Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that seem focused more on getting social and political activists off their backs or drawing in customers than on doing any real good. Watch in 2008 for […]

What to consider when you have to make trade-offs.

Internet entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky is applying what he does best—building high-tech companies—to improving education in Argentina.

Sustainability is the next frontier of activist investing.

No matter how creative and ambitious they may be, nonprofits that rely solely on donations and grants to finance their growth often fall short. One way...