Spring 2009

Issue

Spring 2009

Volume 7, Number 2

Climate change is now widely recognized as one of the world’s most pressing problems. As governments at all levels struggle to address the issue, individuals have begun taking matters into their own hands by purchasing carbon offsets from companies that invest in renewable energy, plant trees, or reduce emissions. The spring 2009 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review explores how individuals are atoning for their use of cars, air travel, and even funerals in “Offsetting Green Guilt.”

Features

Social Innovations

Shades of Green

By Andrew J. Hoffman 3

Social networking tools reveal that there is an intricate web of relationships between business and environmentalists, which if developed could benefit the environmental movement.

Essentials of Social Innovation

Ten Nonprofit Funding Models

By William Landes Foster, Peter Kim & Barbara Christiansen 78

With an understanding of these 10 funding models, nonprofit leaders can use the for-profit world's valuable practice of engaging in succinct and clear conversations about long-term financial strategy.

Environment

Offsetting Green Guilt

By Matthew J. Kotchen 6

Voluntary carbon offsets allow people to invest in projects that allegedly counteract their greenhouse gas emissions. But can voluntary offsets help slow global warming? Or are offsets a way for consumers to buy their way out of bad feelings?

Social Entrepreneurship

Creating Social Value

By Philip Auerswald 1

The idea that social entrepreneurs create something called social value—good works that go above and beyond what traditional entrepreneurs and businesses deliver—is a dearly held tenet of the social change movement. But what exactly is social value, and how do social entrepreneurs go about creating it?

What’s Next

Nonprofits

Turn on the TV, Class

By Jennifer Roberts

Poor children can watch rich children's better school classes on TV.

Social Innovations

The Pepsi Spirit—of Giving Back

By Jennifer Roberts

Pepsi's free CSR: enrolling more than 27,000 of its U.S. employees in the Wireless AMBER Alert Program.

Nonprofits

Social Entrepreneurs Take the Leads

By Jennifer Roberts 1

Skoll and Sundance hope documentary films prove powerful in making social change.

Government

Polling Power

By Jennifer Roberts

A new Web site shows voters who like-minded peers, organizations, and opinion leaders support.

Business

Texting It In

By Jennifer Roberts

A free, open-source software package lets health care workers in developing countries better fight disease.

Social Innovations

The New Frontier

By Jennifer Roberts

LeapFrog Investments will bring better insurance to more of the world's poor.

Field Report

Social Innovations

Millennials MoveOn

By Lee Bruno

To propel young folks to the polls, a political organization mixed Web 2.0 tools with social science savvy.

Nonprofits

Tongue-Tied at the Top

By Pete Smith 7

While boards sat in silence, executives milked American University and the Smithsonian.

Social Innovations

Root Solutions

By Suzie Boss

Nonprofit lender Root Capital connects rural farmers and artisans with the corporations that crave their products.

Case Study

Nonprofits

Clear Blood

By Moe Abecassis, David Benjamin, & Lorna Tessier 2

By 1998, thousands of people had contracted HIV and hepatitis C from Canada’s tainted blood supply. To restore the supply and the public’s trust, the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada created a new organization, Canadian Blood Services. Despite the public health tragedy that it inherited, Canadian Blood Services rebuilt Canadians’ faith in the nation’s blood supply by infusing transparency into its structure, culture, and operations.

Viewpoint

Philanthropy

Fundraising in Tough Times

By Mal Warwick 14

Our economy is in bad shape and will only get worse. So what can fundraisers do to minimize the impact of this difficult period on our organizations, and at the same time maximize income?

Social Innovations

Effective Funding

By Steven Lawry

How foundations can best support social innovators.

Book Reviews

UNCHARITABLE:
How Restraints on
Nonprofits Undermine
Their Potential
Dan Pallotta

Review

Social Innovations

The Double Standard

Reviewed By Renée Irvin 1

Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential by Dan Pallotta

THE BLUE SWEATER:
Bridging the Gap
Between Rich and Poor
in an Interconnected
World
Jacqueline Novogratz

Review

Social Innovations

It’s the Destination

Review By Pamela Hartigan 6

The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World by Jacqueline Novogratz

Review

Philanthropy

The Art of Grantmaking

Review By Susan Berresford

Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy by Paul Brest and Hal Harvey

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