philanthropy

Social Entrepreneurship, the Creativity Economy, and Reciprocity: Investing in a Better World

  Since 1987, Echoing Green has provided seed funding and support to more than 450 social entrepreneurs with bold ideas for social change in order to launch groundbreaking organizations around the world. Echoing Green was ...READ»

One Organization’s Approach to Advance Economic Mobility, and Lessons on Leadership

A powerful combination of services to alleviate poverty and improve lives is to help people make a living and manage their money. We see this in the global universe of micro-finance. One shining model at the local level here in the ...READ»

For Business Executives on Nonprofit Boards: On Fundraising and Strategic Planning

I am puzzled by much of the advice to nonprofit organizations, especially in this tight economy. Fundraising consultants admonish boards to give and raise money, and management consulting firms work with nonprofit management to create ...READ»

Incubating Social Enterprises: Investing in Youth and Technology Literacy

Blue Ridge Foundation New York, founded in 1999 by John A. Griffin, President of Blue Ridge Capital, first tested its model of active support for nonprofit start-ups during early work with iMentor. iMentor sought to address two ...READ»

10 Coolest Innovators Rebuilding New Orleans

Ravaged by Katrina and accosted by Gustav, New Orleans, the city best known for its Mardi Gras and musicians (and now for its hurricanes) is gradually being reconstructed. The New Orleans 100 showcases one hundred world-changing ...READ»

Rebuilding New Orleans: Ten Coolest Innovators

Three years after Katrina, the nation's most expensive hurricane, which cost insurers an estimated $44 billion, came Gustav. As if New Orleans needed its rebuilding project to get any harder. And yet, there’s hope. To underscore how far the city has come since 2005, alldaybuffet, a group of creative professionals focused on social innovation, created the New Orleans 100, a list of projects that are bringing new creative energy, attracting tourism, rebuilding homes, overhauling the educational system, and stimulating economic activity. Here are 10 of the most innovative ventures.READ»

• 10 Coolest Innovators Rebuilding New Orleans

Children for Children: On Saving Lives and Leadership Development

I am usually writing about leadership development for corporate executives - high impact service opportunities to involve business people and philanthropists in global issues. Today, I am thrilled to write about a national program ...READ»

Building Your Nonprofit Investment Portfolio: Leveraging Your Impact

Whether you contribute $2,500 a year, $25,000, or $1 million, you can leverage your impact by applying several important principles in choosing the nonprofits you support. Your decisions are even more meaningful now as nonprofits ...READ»

Finding Jobs in This Economy: Nonprofit Board Experience Can Pay Off

In this tough job market, business executives with nonprofit board experience can be at an advantage in getting jobs in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. There are three values to having served on boards: contacts ...READ»

Peter Gabriel’s YouTube for Human Rights: The Hub

Peter Gabriel's human-rights group Witness embraces social media, creating a YouTube for unseen atrocities. With camera-equipped cell phones, ordinary people suddenly have the means to document their lives and share evidence of rights violations. The Hub allows anyone around the world to submit such clips to a central site where its target audience of activists can connect and take action.READ»

• Ten Musicians Who Rock The Web
• From Prog Rock To Prog Biz
• Music Goes Green
• Music's Invisible Money Machine

Green Washing

I enjoyed reading your excellent article about the Sierra Club's endorsement of the new Clorox Green Works line ("Cleaning Solution," September). As marketing professors and researchers, my colleague Cathy Hartman and I ...READ»

Updates

Texan Trees"Carbon Boom" (July/August) addressed the idea of offsetting greenhouse- gas emissions by preserving forests, largely in tropical regions like Brazil and Indonesia. Now the so-called forest carbon trade has come ...READ»

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The HSBC Lumberjack Ad: On Nonprofit Boards and Diversity of Perspectives

Brilliant. In a matter of seconds, even without sound, the new HSBC lumberjack TV ad tells us that communities – even families - are comprised of people with very different points of view. The ad is visceral; it conveys both the ...READ»

A New Paradigm for CSR: A Chance for Companies to Matter More

Corporations have been experimenting with strategic philanthropy for well over 15 years, in addition to engaging in volunteer projects. Given new strains on the economy, companies seek an even greater return on investment in ...READ»

The Market’s Toll on Charitable Giving

October 1 - The extreme stress experienced from Wall Street to Main Street since September 15 is rippling into the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and will hit some organizations more like a tsunami. Nonprofit organizations ...READ»

Paul Newman: How We Live Our Lives

September 27 - It is particularly poignant to hear of Paul Newman’s death after spending three days of an immersion at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) with people who devote their lives to service and philanthropy. Dahlia ...READ»

Innovative Philanthropy: The Girl Effect! Interview with Maria Eitel (Nike) and Peter Buffett (NoVo)

September 25 – In a private interview with Maria Eitel, President of the Nike Foundation, and Peter Buffett, co-chair with his wife Jennifer of the NoVo Foundation, I learned how Maria and Peter first met, how they chose their ...READ»

Clinton Global Initiative: Sharing the Joy...What Will Be Your Commitment

September 25 – There is no denying the interest of sitting among the heads of global corporations, heads of state, and movie and television stars, and casually exchanging business cards and chatting with my seat companion who is ...READ»

5 Reasons to Serve on a Nonprofit Board: Especially Now

September 21 - Given the stresses and distractions of the job market, I thought that business people on nonprofit boards might lose interest in their board work. To the contrary, what I am hearing is that board members are valuing ...READ»

What It Means to Govern: For-Profit and Nonprofit Boards

September 16 - At the Global Boards Forum, presented today in New York City by Directorship and Global Proxy Watch, 80 directors of public companies gathered to discuss board member responsibilities. Particularly striking to me ...READ»

From Lipstick on a Pig to Lipstick That Makes the World a Better Place

September 13 - Thank goodness, the news week is ending better than it started. The presidential campaigns have moved from squabbling about “lipstick on a pig” to the importance of service. This weekend’s Financial Times ...READ»

Fundraising in a Tough Economy: The Role of the Nonprofit Board

September 10 - Every nonprofit is bemoaning the new challenges to fundraising wrought by today’s economy. But just like in business, there is always money for the best solutions to the most significant problems. It’s at ...READ»

Profits with Purpose

This year, Fast Company embarked on an experiment: to apply to the for-profit sector the rigorous methodology developed by our partner Monitor Group for the Social Capitalist Awards. With help from Sara Olsen at Social Venture ...READ»

Social Capitalism in Words

The concept of social entrepreneurship means different things to different people. Here some people discuss what two particular social projects mean to them.READ»

This Week's "Mad Men": "Philanthropy is the Gateway to Power"

September 8 - For a “Mad Men” (AMC TV) junkie who also happens to thrive on philanthropy and service, this week’s episode was a particular thrill! Ad man boss Bertram Cooper, played by Robert Morse, reports enthusiastically ...READ»