What Civil Society Needs
Without a healthy civil society it becomes difficult if not impossible to solve other, more readily apparent problems.
Civic Engagement Social innovations that enrich society and enhance democratic participation
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Ethically Challenged?
Does the nonprofit sector represens an untapped opportunity to leverage social media for social good among young people?
Podcast
Hayagreeva Rao - Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovation
From concepts is his book, Market Rebels: How Activists Make or Break Radical Innovation, Stanford Professor Hayagreeva Rao presents the idea of market rebels—those that create radical innovations by challenging preexisting cultural norms. Social movements and activists create social innovation, transform markets, and bring about collective action through techniques that Rao introduces as “hot causes” and “cool mobilizations.” With case studies from the automobile industry, the microbrewery movement, and a campaign from a nonprofit health organization, Rao provides an outline of how market rebels apply these techniques to drive innovation. He spoke at the 2009 Nonprofit Management Institute, an event sponsored by the Stanford Social Innovation Review.
An Appraising Stare Down the Gift Horse’s Gullet
Self-governing societies can’t operate on noblesse oblige, and societies that do aren’t truly self-governing.
Receiving Aid, Receiving Respect
How people experience government programs directly affects their levels of civic engagement.
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The Curb-Cut Effect
Laws and programs designed to benefit vulnerable groups, such as the disabled or people of color, often end up benefiting all of society.
Stop Raising Awareness Already
It’s time for activists and organizations to adopt a more strategic approach to public interest communications.
Protest Movements Could Be More Effective Than the Best Charities
To do as much good as possible with limited resources, funders should look to woefully underfunded protest movements.
Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)
In adopting data-driven practices, leaders must design and implement programs in ways that engage community members directly in the work of social change.
Inside Switzerland’s Radical Drug Policy Innovation
A look at how Switzerland radically and successfully changed its approach to drug policy following a heroin epidemic in the late 1980s and 90s, and what the effort teaches us about the social innovation process.