Understanding Risk Tolerance in Grantmaking
By applying behavioral economics theory to philanthropy, we can better manage grantmaker tendencies toward loss and risk aversion, and the effects of other decision-making patterns.
Solutions - Articles
Why the Social Sector Needs the Scientific Method
A flawed study on deworming children—and new studies that expose its errors—reveal why activists and philanthropists alike need safeguards.
Five Programmatic Lessons in Scaling Impact
A look at how a number of Social Innovation Fund subgrantees are successfully developing program strategies for greater growth and impact.
Making Evidence Practical for Development
Three ways to make research and evaluation in international development more relevant, ethical, and applied.
Big and Fast Is Not Better
Building relationships with grassroots organizations that advocate for human rights-based development takes time, but without investing in them, philanthropy is likely to stumble. The case of Haiti is instructive.
The Eurozone’s Great Big Network Crisis
Conflicts are inevitable when groups (or countries) harness the power of networked action; it’s up to leaders to plan for the worst to achieve the best.
Avoiding Four Pitfalls in Digital Learning
Early approaches are advancing fruitful dialogue around how to accelerate the revolutionary potential of online education and enable better outcomes for graduates.
Five Lessons for New Philanthropists
Before tackling complex social problems, new philanthropists should consider what current philanthropists have learned about how to “hack.”
The New Social Innovators
How the next generation of funders and social entrepreneurs are already taking cues from tech to “hack” the world’s most pressing social problems.
Using Social Incubation to Drive Local Innovation
A look at why and how social innovation can catalyze solutions for local problems from within the community, rather than by importing ideas from the outside.