Technology
The Call of Violence
In parts of the world, expanding cell-phone coverage brings with it an increase in violent activity.
Jessica Ruvinsky
Jessica Ruvinsky is a science writer based in Santa Monica, California. She was an editor at Discover magazine in New York and has contributed to The Economist, Science, and U.S. News & World Report. She has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Stanford and a bachelor's degree from Yale.
Civil Society
The Power of Being Seen
People are more apt to behave in socially responsible ways when they think that others might take notice.
Socially Responsible Business
Off-the-Shelf or Do-It-Yourself?
How a company supports employee voluntarism depends on whether it participates in certain kinds of external networks.
Scaling
Mapping Word of Mouth
Spreading messages in remote villages is a matter of understanding the patterns by which villagers connect with each other.
Individual Giving
Sponsoring Hope
A properly designed sponsor-a-child program can have real, long-term impact on the life course of its beneficiaries.
Corporate Philanthropy
Good (and Not-So-Good) Neighbors
Major local events, with some notable exceptions, spur locally based companies to increase charitable giving.
Education
Poverty and Achievement, Revisited
Enrollment in a classroom with a high poverty rate doesn't necessarily affect individual student performance.
Civil Society
Markets Versus Morals
In a market context, people are apt to betray their own beliefs about right and wrong.
Civil Society
Chinese Community Development
Government authorities are experimenting to build citizen trust.
Urban Development
Trees Fight Crime
A Philadelphia study connects green spaces to neighborhood safety.
Socially Responsible Business
Making Businesses More Responsible
Corporate sustainability reporting is increasingly mandated by government and the public.
Human Rights
Diversity Opportunities
New research finds that some companies are increasingly pro-diversity and others lag well behind.
Civil Society
The Evolution of Membership
Membership in organizations is growing, but not what it used to be.
Civil Society
Public Services 2.0
Technology can empower citizens to co-create some government services.
Health
Global Diseases, Local Needs
The diseases that get funded tend to be the ones for which funders can take credit.
Social Entrepreneurship
Cadaver Commerce
The moral legitimacy of a new market can come as much from how you sell something as from exactly what you’re selling.
Nonprofit Management
How Leaders Encourage Innovation
Transformational leaders capitalize on the creativity that employees have.
Health
Undisclosed Pharma Contributions
Most health advocacy organizations do not report industry funding.
Nonprofits
Nonprofits Aren’t More Commercial
A new study finds that nonprofits are not becoming more commercialized.
Water
Spring Water Protection Improves Health
Living near safe drinking water is not the same as drinking safe water.
Philanthropy
The Emotions of Aid
“One death is a tragedy; 1 million is a statistic,” Joseph Stalin is supposed to have said. The more people we see suffering, the less we care.
Environment
Virtue or Else
Under the EPA’s Audit Policy, violators who voluntarily report themselves can get certain penalties reduced or waived if they commit to ongoing self-regulation.
Government
From Graft to Golf
Lobbying and bribery are both time-honored ways to seek influence, but there is an important difference between them.
Nonprofit Management
Making the News
The media introduce social movements to the masses, but how do social movements make it into the media?
Civil Society
The New Bottom Billion
According to a new analysis, most of the world’s poor no longer live in the poorest countries.
Health
Doctor in Your Pocket
New and valuable mHealth apps are coming out all the time. What sort of open architecture can support this wave of innovation?
Civil Society
Online Gaming Is the New Bowling League
A recent study showed that online game communities provide access to social capital.
Fundraising
Money Makes People Stingy
The more money a person has, the less generous, helpful, compassionate, and charitable he is toward other people.
Economic Development
Welfare Works Better than Bootstraps
In Britain, the social safety net allows people who fall into poverty to pull themselves out. Americans who become poor are more likely to stay that way.
Socially Responsible Business
Turning a Profit by Helping the Poor
Politically radical social workers didn’t expect to be working in a bank any more than white-collar bankers expected to be holding meetings in a crowded public market.
Education
Economic Influence
Private foundations that finance education in developing countries need to be more transparent in their mission and impact.
Nonprofits
Combining Warmth and Competence
People tend to perceive organizations as being either warm or competent, not both—and they are much more likely to do business with the competent one.
Environment
Bring Polluters Back In
Research reveals why low-income minority neighborhoods are often the site of the worst environmental polluters.
Nonprofit Management
Generation Me at the Office
Young workers are, on average, less self-less than previous generations. How will this affect the nonprofit sector?
Health
Can’t Buy Me Laughter
While more money may translate to a higher valuation of oneself, but when it comes to happiness, money is no indicator.
Philanthropy
Volunteering for Number One
Study suggests that for young volunteers, it's not just about résumé padding.
Health
Virtual HIV Prevention
Health education is at a crossroads, and interactive computer games may be a guiding force.
Civil Society
One Villager, One Vote
Direct participation by Indonesian villagers proves that process matters, even when outcomes don't change.
Technology & Design
Buzz Control
Social media is a powerful marketing tool. But how do you control your message once it goes viral and is in the hands of the public?
Philanthropy
Next to Godliness
People are more likely to engage in moral behavior when they are in a clean-scented room.
Environment
Evil Green
New research shows that buying green products makes people more likely to cheat and steal.
Fundraising
Put at Least One Egg in Another Basket
For-profit companies preach and employ diversification—and it would behoove nonprofits to have diverse revenue portfolios, as well.
Civil Society
What Makes Civic Associations Work
What makes a civic association effective is not so much the resources and opportunities available to it, but good leaders.
Business
Unsoiled Reputations
Family-owned firms pollute less than nonfamily firms; and that is due to the family values that these firms were founded upon.
Government
Receiving Aid, Receiving Respect
How people experience government programs directly affects their levels of civic engagement.
Health
The Value of Free
People are more likely to use products that they pay for, but when it comes to malaria-preventing bed nets in Africa, the opposite holds true.
Government
Fermenting Innovation
New public-private partnerships have led to big leaps in the exportation of Argentinian wine.
Economic Development
Lucrative but Deadly
As parents spend more time raising their profitable coffee crop, they spend less time attending to their children's needs.
Food
Local Warming
Global warming may end up helping some poor farmers who will be able to sell their crops for higher prices.
Board Governance
Building a Better Board
How nonprofit board size and independence relate to board performance.