Evil Green
New research shows that buying green products makes people more likely to cheat and steal.
Cause Marketing
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Suing for the Cure?
Is it ethical for a nonprofit to sue another nonprofit over a branding issue?
New Florida Legislation: A Slap in the Face to Nonprofit Diversity Advocates
The philanthropic community has no public opposition to a new, ill-advised piece of legislation.
The Meaning of the Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge
The importance of this news is not the actual money that many billionaires are likely to pledge, but the cultural ramifications of the campaign.
Fun for a Change
Volkswagen believes that doing the right thing—taking the stairs, reducing litter, and driving an eco-friendly car—can be pleasurable and desirable.
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Catalytic Philanthropy
Despite spending vast amounts of money and helping to create the world’s largest nonprofit sector, philanthropists have fallen far short of solving America’s most pressing problems. What the nation needs is “catalytic philanthropy”—a new approach that is already being practiced by some of the most innovative donors.
The Dragonfly Effect
Two veterans of consumer psychology, marketing, and entrepreneurship provide a guide to using social media for social change.
The Hidden Costs of Cause Marketing
From pink ribbons to Product Red, cause marketing adroitly serves two masters, earning profits for corporations while raising funds for charities. Yet the short-term benefits of cause marketing—also known as consumption philanthropy—belie its long-term costs. These hidden costs include individualizing solutions to collective problems; replacing virtuous action with mindless buying; and hiding how markets create many social problems in the first place. Consumption philanthropy is therefore unsuited to create real social change.
Cultivating the Green Consumer
Consumers say they want to buy ecologically friendly products and reduce their impact on the environment. But when they get to the cash register, their Earth-minded sentiments die on the vine. Although individual quirks underlie some of this hypocrisy, businesses can do a lot more to help would-be green consumers turn their talk into walk.
Antipoverty Apps
mPowering has created an app that awards goods and services to individuals facing extreme poverty when they make beneficial choices.