Navigating social networks could well be the ultimate nonprofit management tactic. In this audio lecture recorded at the Nonprofit Management Institute, Heather McLeod Grant discusses how individuals and organizations are using networked approaches to promote social change efforts. She focuses on the work of the Monitor Institute, in particular, and offers tips on how to use social networks effectively.
With the Obama administration's focus on social enterprise as a means of solving some of our most pressing problems, the social entrepreneur has emerged as the chief change agent of our time. In this panel discussion, part of the Stanford 2009 Entrepreneurship Week, leaders of several vital organizations talk about the motivations, successes, and challenges associated with running a social enterprise. They consider what the economic downturn has meant to their missions, and they offer practical advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Technologies such as mobile phones and computers are increasingly becoming tools for philanthropic giving. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation audio lecture, former Community Foundation of Silicon Valley president Peter Hero discusses how global changes in philanthropy are providing opportunities in the online giving space. He considers how online giving can be made more robust, and how trends in this arena may allow for the strengthening of civic engagement around the world.
A pluralistic society boasts many independent centers of power and foundations have an instrumental role in supporting such diversity. Online giving marketplaces are further democratizing philanthropy by empowering donors to support the causes they care about. In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, experts in the field consider whether such online spaces are simply useful adjuncts to the work of philanthropy—or whether they promise to revolutionize the sector altogether.
Online giving marketplaces allow for the transfer of funds from interested donors and lenders to those who need them. In this new philanthropy space, it is as yet, unclear whether the donor is the "supply" or the "demand," and organizations are just beginning to experiment with the utility of such online functioning. In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, philanthropy experts working at online marketplaces discuss how their organizations function and what differentiates them from others.
When it comes to online giving market places, the adage is: If you build it, few will come. So how do you drive enough people to such online spaces to make them work? In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, William Meehan, McKinsey senior director, talks about the opportunities and challenges in making online giving marketplaces successful, and what lies ahead in this new philanthropy field for organizations dedicated to making a genuine sustained impact in communities.
Kiva has created an online marketplace that allows ordinary citizens through responsible investing to help specific entrepreneurs around the world thrive with as little as $25. How did Kiva get the critical mass it needed to make its operations a go? How does it work with nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and lenders through the online format? In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Kiva President Premal Shah talks about how the organization got started, how it functions, and how it plans to grow.
How do we create an efficient capital market for philanthropy? What are the best ways to marry program evaluation with powerful dynamics among online giving places? What role should public policy take in all this? In this free-ranging audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Randy Komisar offers a venture capitalist's perspective on these questions and more.
Given current tax laws, $300 billion in charitable dollars can end up costing the U.S. Treasury $50 billion in lost income. Should taxable income exclude charitable contributions? In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Stanford political philosopher Rob Reich asks some tough questions, ultimately proposing a new way of looking at tax incentives to support the nonprofit sector.
At its worst, program evaluation is a useless activity that generates lots of boring data and irrelevant conclusions. But at its best, argues Mark Kramer in a talk he gave at the 2008 Nonprofit Management Institute, it can be a strategic tool for the genuine improvement of a nonprofit. He offers exemplars of organizations that have used evaluation effectively to advance their missions.
MySpace, Flicker, YouTube, and Facebook are big brands and major movers in the commercial, social networking world. In this audio lecture recorded at the 2008 Nonprofit Management Institute, an event convened by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jeff Patrick of Common Knowledge shares how nonprofits can use such tools—and customize their own—to capture constituencies and raise funds. He further shows where social networking is headed so that nonprofits can begin to incorporate it into their long-term horizons.
Research shows that spending time and money on others makes people happy—so why don't more people donate to or volunteer for nonprofits? In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Stanford marketing professor Jennifer Aaker offers insights into the phenomenon. She then turns those insights into lessons in nonprofit management that organizations can use to create compelling ways for more people to give financially and personally to the causes they care about.
The key to success in any team or enterprise is to develop good working relationships. In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, consultant Diana McLain Smith, author of Divide and Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict into Strength, shows how those who care about performance and relationships can simultaneously nurture both. She offers tips for seeing work relationships in new ways, and practical suggestions for enhancing them.
Fraser Nelson, a consultant to nonprofits, gives an entertaining lesson on the why and how of nonprofit lobbying. Most nonprofits do not lobby government for a variety of reasons, but Nelson explains that it is legal, effective, and powerful. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Nelson concludes with ways to get the most out of your lobbying efforts and five rules to follow.
Businesses are not the only organizations rocked by financial scandals. Nonprofits such as the Red Cross, United Way, and many others have been hit as well. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Deborah Rhode discusses the need for an ethics upgrade in the nonprofit sector, which by its do-good nature is expected to take the moral high ground. She considers typical pitfalls that nonprofits are vulnerable to, and calls for clearer rules governing transparency and accountability.
