Summer 2014

Issue

Summer 2014

Volume 12, Number 3

The summer 2014 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review includes the Up for Debate feature—“Strategic Philanthropy for a Complex World.” In this article, the authors argue that philanthropists should shift from the prevailing model of strategic philanthropy that emphasizes predictable outcomes, to an emergent model that accommodates uncertainty and learning. Joining the conversation are prominent thinkers from academia and philanthropy.

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Features

Measurement & Evaluation

Big Data for Social Innovation

By Kevin C. Desouza & Kendra L. Smith 20

Nonprofits lag behind business and science in using big data effectively.

Government

Philanthropy in a Time of Polarization

By Steven Teles, Heather Hurlburt, & Mark Schmitt 1

The polarization of US politics is imposing new limits on how foundations can influence the policy process.

Socially Responsible Business

Creative Financing for Social Enterprise

By Dana Brakman Reiser & Steven A. Dean

Hybrid legal forms offer only a limited solution to the challenge of helping organizations access capital. Includes magazine extras.

Up for Debate

UP FOR DEBATE

Strategic Philanthropy for a Complex World

By John Kania, Mark Kramer, & Patty Russell 19

Foundations need to adopt a more emergent approach to strategic philanthropy.

What’s Next

Urban Development

Pop-Up Housing

By Suzie Boss 3

In London, the YMCA is combining prefab construction with stylish design to create a new kind of affordable home.

Technology

Putting Bullies in Their Place

A Web-based initiative uses analysis of social media chatter to locate hotspots of antisocial behavior.

Arts

Good Show

Presenting content with a social message is the focus of a recently launched movie-streaming company.

Government

A Mandate for Responsibility

In the wake of a recently passed law, companies in India are figuring out how to meet their CSR requirement.

Field Report

Economic Development

Making Cash Pay Off

By Brandon Keim

GiveDirectly relies on high tech and hard data to test whether large cash transfers can alleviate extreme poverty.

Urban Development

Safe at Home

Thanks to ROC USA, residents of mobile home parks can gain a real stake in the places where they live.

Human Rights

Applied “Womenomics”

How Goldman Sachs deployed a far-reaching, data-driven strategy to further the cause of women’s entrepreneurship. Includes magazine extras.

Case Study

Franchising_a_Fireball

Education

Franchising a “Fireball”

By Sush Amar & Simon Munk 3

Aflatoun, a global social and financial education program, is relying on partnerships rather than centralized control to scale up.

Viewpoint

Foundations

The Artful Juggler

By Fay Twersky 4

Foundation CEOs play a complex, ever-more-demanding role—a role that may not lend itself to on-the-job training.

Nonprofit Management

Planning Meets Strategy

By John Anner 7

The work of transforming an organization starts with a readiness to question its scale, its scope, and even its core identity.

Measuring Social Impact

Lost in Translation

By Karina Kloos & Daniela Papi 4

It’s time for people in the nonprofit community to reclaim the language of nonprofit evaluation.

Foundations

A Global Family Affair

By Anne-Claire Pache & Arthur Gautier

Philanthropic efforts funded by private family wealth—long common in the United States—are on the rise worldwide.

Research

Civil Society

Big Box Protests Can Be a Big Deal

By Adrienne Day 1

Community activists have a lot of potential influence on whether large retailers enter a local market.

Environment

Auditing the Auditors

By Adrienne Day

Simple steps to reduce conflicts of interest can improve both pollution reporting and regulatory compliance.

Individual Giving

Not “Better Than Nothing”

By Adrienne Day

Combining charity with financial gain can seriously tarnish others’ appreciation of altruistic efforts.

Socially Responsible Business

The Upside of CSR

By Adrienne Day

For companies, higher levels of social performance often translate into improved access to funding.

Microfinance

Broken Rules, Better Loans?

By Adrienne Day

Loan officers’ discretion plays a large role in determining the success of a micro-lending organization.

Book Reviews

Review

Government

Government by Toolkit

Review By Sonal Shah

The first chief technology officer of the United States offers a vision for remaking public services.

Review

Economic Development

The Trouble With Top-Down

Review By Kevin Starr 1

The limits of technocratic, one-size-fits-all approaches to economic development have become all too evident.

Review

Socially Responsible Business

An Insider’s Tale

Review By David J. Vogel 1

A veteran corporate social responsibility leader reflects on “doing well and doing good” at a big oil company.

Review

Technology & Design

A Messy Solution to Messy Problems

Review By Lucy Bernholz

An emerging method for enabling innovation focuses not on plans or projects, but on broad social challenges.

Last Look

Human Rights

Survivor of an Acid Attack

Women and even girls continue to be the victims of acid attacks by men in Bangladesh and other countries.

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