Nonprofits

Color Blindness Is Shortsighted

By Alana Conner

Acknowledging employee diversity has its benefits.

Nonprofits

The Volunteer Boom

By Alana Conner

Nonprofits will soon have more volunteers than they can handle.

Global Issues

The Violent Death of Benevolence

By Alana Conner

Research supports violent media's negative impact on civility.

Philanthropy

When Swag Backfires

By Alana Conner 1

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

Philanthropy

Tweets for Change

By Suzie Boss

Tweeters come together for spontaneous gatherings of like-minded philanthropists.

Nonprofits

Art Mimics Art

By Suzie Boss

Manchester Bidwell Corporation replicates by adapting general strategies to local cultures.

Social Innovations

The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing

By Angela M. Eikenberry 18

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.

Social Innovations

Platforms for Collaboration

By Satish Nambisan

Some of the brightest ideas for social change grow in the spaces between organizations and sectors. Yet few organizations have systems that make collaboration happen. To foster innovation, organizations need to develop places where they can come together and work creatively—that is, platforms for collaboration. In this article, a management expert identifies three kinds of collaboration platforms—exploration, experimentation, and execution—and then outlines what organizations can do to put these platforms to work for them.

Nonprofits

Ethics and Nonprofits

By Deborah L. Rhode & Amanda K. Packel 30

Unethical behavior remains a persistent problem in nonprofits and for-profits alike. To help organizations solve that problem, the authors examine the factors that influence moral conduct, the ethical issues that arise specifically in charitable organizations, and the best ways to promote ethical behavior within organizations.

Social Innovations

Social Entrepreneurship Revisited

By Paul C. Light 25

Social entrepreneurship is one of the most alluring terms on the problem-solving landscape today. The question is not whether social entrepreneurship is a term in
good currency, but what it actually means.