The digital revolution is sweeping through society. Nonprofit organizations and social businesses have been slower to adapt to these technological changes than for-profit businesses, but many are beginning to do so. In the summer 2016 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review there are two articles that address this topic, “Upgrading a Network” and “Using Data for Action and for Impact.”
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How nonprofits and social businesses can use data to inform decision-making and evaluate performance.
In more and more cases, prize competitions provide recipients with resources to pursue their work even before they complete a proposed project.
Grantmakers should provide enough money for nonprofits to pay for all their operations, not just programs and services.
A new program gives nonprofits the resources to listen more closely to the people they serve.
A group of museums around the United States is providing poor families with unprecedented access to exhibits and activities.
The spread of affordable housing impact statements offers US cities hope for more equitable development.
Amid pushbacks against LGBTQ rights elsewhere, a New York City executive order ensures equal access to bathrooms.
A social enterprise in Myanmar uses design thinking to create products that reflect an up-close view of what small-plot farmers need.
In and around Pittsburgh, a cross-sector network sponsors approaches to education that blend technology and peer-to-peer collaboration.
Ariadne Labs, founded by Atul Gawande, seeks to improve outcomes by getting health-care organizations to adopt proven interventions.
An incremental approach to fostering sustainable eating habits is the hallmark of Green Monday, an organization based in Hong Kong.
Girl Scouts of the USA has overhauled everything from its federated structure to its information technology systems to the way that Girl Scouts sell their fabled cookies.
Five years after the launch of Big Society Capital, its first CEO takes stock of what the organization has (and hasn’t) achieved.
A new facility in Portland, Ore., aims to solve critical infrastructure problems that thwart the growth of midsize farms and ranches.
Nonprofits and their funders need to plan for—and budget for—unforeseen events that can disrupt worthy projects.
By pursuing approaches to philanthropy that convey sincerity, companies can reap financial as well as reputational benefits.
People who rise within a hierarchy often develop qualities that make it hard for them work together in groups.
In a hybrid organization, the trade-offs between social and commercial goals are real—and they require careful management.
The response by US foundations to federal welfare reform in the 1990s illuminates their role in policy development.
Iris Bohnet reminds us that we all have our biases—and suggests ways that we might overcome them.
Participatory budgeting, which enables citizens to decide how to spend public funds, is building a more empowering model of democracy.
How citizens can push back against urban sprawl and create vibrant, interconnected communities.
International metrics on human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking aren't nearly as objective as they seem. But they still have their uses.
Marine reserves that cut across national borders in Africa are protecting underwater life.
Investing in smart strategies and passionate people.
A conversation with Julie Sunderland, founding director of Program Related Investments at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
How a strategic investment steered an educational-technology startup into trouble.
Using the off-grid solar revolution to unlock credit for low-income customers in Africa.
Increasing supplies and cutting prices for contraceptives without spending a dime.
A report on strategic investing at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
How a dose of banking discipline strengthened financing for smallholder farmers.
How a broad bet on a biotech company paid off in promising drugs for neglected diseases.
Investing in collaboration between public school districts and charter school networks.
