items sorted by publication date
Fishing for the Future: certification program for sustainable fisheries 
WBCSD, October 23, 2006
Fish stocks worldwide are in serious decline: 48% are fully exploited, 16% overfished, and 9% depleted, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is estimated that every year fishing practices kill up to 20 million metric tons of unwanted fish, seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals and other ocean life. In 1986, Unilever committed to source all its fish from sustainable stocks.
>> More Details | created on: 11/02/2006
A Closer Look at Business Education: Social Enterpreneurship
GreenBiz.org, September, 2006
This September 2006 report explores how individual schools and their MBA curricula are approaching social enterprise. It is based on an interview with Greg Dees, founding faculty director of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, who is often considered the father of Social Entrepreneurship as an academic subject.
>> More Details | created on: 09/26/2006
Market-Based Solutions for Financing Philanthropy 
By Arthur Wood and Maximilian Martin, July, 2006
The current structures of international finance provide for two primary formal mechanisms through which funding is directed to address the many social issues across the globe: multilateral governmental models which are resourced through national taxation; and large private grant-making foundations. But as the pace of globalization increases, these models are proving to be inadequate in their ability to tackle effectively such social issues as education, economic development, health, human rights and poverty.
What are some of the main weaknesses in the system? Whether the amount of funding provided to governments and NGOs for development is enough or too little is hotly debated. Yet almost everyone would agree that a major problem is the distribution and effective use of the money. There is disturbing evidence that this money often does not reach the people most in need, where it is crucial for social change.
>> More Details | created on: 09/26/2006
What Business Execs Don’t Know -- but Should -- About Nonprofits
By Les Silverman & Lynn Taliento, Stanford Social Innovation Review, July 20, 2006
Business leaders play vital roles in the nonprofit sector -- as board members, donors, partners, and even executives. Yet all too often they underestimate the unique challenges of managing nonprofit organizations. In this article, 11 executives who have played leadership roles in both for-profits and nonprofits reveal the critical differences between the two, and suggest ways that business and nonprofit leaders can use this information to create a more effective social sector
>> More Details | created on: 07/20/2006
Committee for the Democratization of Information Technology - CDI
By The Schwab Foundation, May 15, 2006
Based in Rio de Janeiro, the Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization with the mission of fostering the social inclusion of less-privileged social groups by using Information and Communication Technologies as tools to encourage active citizenship. Its works in low-income communities and with institutions assisting individuals with special needs including, among others, the physically and mentally disabled, the visually impaired, homeless children, prisoners, and indigenous populations. Learning new technologies not only creates job opportunities, but also expands access to knowledge and encourages social interchange.
>> More Details | created on: 05/15/2006
If the Shoe Fits: Nonprofit or For-Profit? The Choice Matters.
By Cynthia Gair, The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, April 28, 2006
Entrepreneurs who aim to combine social and financial goals in their new ventures often debate which legal structure — nonprofit or for-profit — is most appropriate. REDF’s newest publication addresses this question by drawing upon examples from the field as well as REDF’s own experiences. It also includes the “If the Shoe Fits Handy Guide,” a tool to help organizations determine their best fit.
>> More Details | created on: 04/28/2006
RISE For Profit Social Enterpreneyr Report: Balancing Markets and Value
By Catherine C. Clark & Selen Ucak, March 1, 2006
Over the past 30 years, we have witnessed the evolution of a new breed of company: the for-profit social venture. Popularized by pioneering social entrepreneurs such as Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben & Jerry’s, Anita Roddick of the Body Shop, Jeffrey Hollander of Seventh Generation, Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm, Paul Newman of Newman’s Own, and many others, the social venture seeks to effect social and environmental change directly through its business.
This first-of-its-kind exploratory study aims to take a snapshot of the landscape of U.S. forprofit social ventures, focusing on emerging companies that started within the past 30 years.
>> More Details | created on: 07/31/2006
The business of giving - A survey of wealth and philantropy
The Economist, February 25, 2006
The Survey inlcudes the following articles:
- The business of giving
- To have, not to hold. The rise of the new philantropist
- The good company. Is corporate philantropy wothwhile?
- The rise of the social enterpreneur
- Virtue's intermediaries
- Faith, hope and philantropy
>> More Details | created on: 07/18/2006
Everyone a changemaker - Social Enterpreneuriship's ultimate goal
By Bill Drayton, Innovations, Winter 2006, February 23, 2006
Rodrigo Baggio grew up in Rio de Janeiro loving computers. As he matured into an extraordinarily tall, thin man with a hugely wide smile, he became a computer consultant. However, from early on, he was one of the few in his generation who noticed—with concern—that the young people growing up in the favelas on the hills overlooking his middle-class neighborhood had no access to this digital world.
>> More Details | created on: 07/25/2006
Business Planning for Nonprofits - What it is and why it matters
By Kelly Campbell & Betsy Haley , The Bridgespan Group, February, 2006
In the article “Business Planning for Nonprofits,” we draw on client experience to illustrate the key components of the business-planning process. We share some practical tips about getting started and also describe a typical written plan.
>> More Details | created on: 07/06/2006
Nonprofit Enterprise and Self-Sustainability Team (NESsT) Publications
NESsT, 2006
From NESst website “Designed to further the theory and practice of social enterprise by providing useful analyses and tools to donors, practitioners, researchers and students. The SET documents experiences from around the world and examines the recurring challenges organizations face when attempting to develop social enterprise. The series also provides CSO practitioners the necessary tools to determine how or whether to implement social enterprise strategies.”
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
Beyond Compliance: The Trustee Viewpoint on Effective Foundation Governance
By Phil Buchanan, Ellie Buteau, , The Center for Effective Philanthropy, August, 2005
This report describes key elements of foundation board effectiveness. Based on the largest-scale research on foundation boards ever conducted, the report reveals the foundation trustee perspective on effective governance and provides practical implications for CEOs and trustees.
>> More Details | created on: 08/11/2006
The Price of Commercial Success - Minnesota Public Radio: social purpose capitalism
By James A. Phills & Victoria Chang , Standford Social Innovation Review, March, 2005
In 1981, Garrison Keillor, the popular host of Minnesota Public Radio's satirical "A Prairie Home Companion," offered listeners a free poster of his mythical sponsor's "Powdermilk Biscuits." To everyone's surprise, more than 50,000 requests poured in; the station faced a $60,000 printing bill. To avert "financial disaster," as MPR president William Kling later recalled, the station used the back of the poster to advertise products for sale, such as a Powdermilk Biscuits T-shirt. The idea worked. "I think we netted off that poster, which was really our first catalog, $15,000 or $20,000," Kling said. "It instantly became clear that there were things like that you could do."
>> More Details | created on: 07/20/2006
Quick Look at Datamation’s Train-and-Hire Program
By World Resources Institute Digital Dividend, World Resources Institute, 2005
Explains how Datamation successfully uses public and private partnerships to create a train-and-hire program. The document describes how partner NGOs provide IT training to marginalized women as a means to qualify these women for jobs in Datamation.
>> More Details | created on: 02/22/2006
CARE and Corporate Alliances
CARE International, 2005
Provides a description of CARE, an international NGO, and its corporate alliances.
>> More Details | created on: 02/22/2006
ICTs in Education Key Projects
UNESCO, 2005
Tata's Computer-Based Functional Literacy Program founded in India seeks to combat illiteracy by using multimedia and flashcards.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2006
Alexandria Small Business Association (ABA)
UNESCO, 2004
UNESCO, the Management of Social Transformation Program -MOST- Clearing House Best Practices.
This database documents the case of ABA, an NGO that provides lending to small and medium enterprises in Egypt, and the methods ABA used to cover its operation costs.
Additional information can be found at
The Microfinance Network.
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
Pfizer Global Health Fellows: Expanding Access to Healthcare Through Cross-Sector Partnerships
By Jonathan B. Levine, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, 2004 (subscription requ'd)
Highlights the work that Pfizer Fellows have been doing with various NGOs in the developing countries. It also discusses the inception of the Pfizer Fellows Program.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2006
Managing Risk - NIAC is thriving, despite taking on clients that no one else would
By Kathryn Olney, Standford Social Innovation Review, January, 2004
For most actuarial types, the image of an 81-year-old driving a forklift is enough to make them pack away their clipboard and head for the door. The forklift operator is a volunteer, as are almost all the operations people at Grey Bears, a nonprofit that packs and delivers nearly 60,000 lbs. of dated produce per week from Salinas Valley to seniors in Santa Cruz. But when the Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC), a fledgling nonprofit insurance company dedicated to insuring fellow nonprofits, was getting off the ground, CEO Pamela Davis courted just such "high-risk" clients as the Grey Bears.
>> More Details | created on: 07/20/2006
The blended value map: Tracking the Intersects and Opportunities of Economic, Social and Environmental Value Creation
By Jed Emerson, Sheila Bonini & Kim Brehm, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, October, 2003
This research effort is an attempt to provide an initial mapping of what is going on in these promising fields of activity in the U.S, as informed by international practice. More specifically, this document attempts to map both practitioners and investors consciously pursuing a blend of economic, social and/or environmental value, identify the issues they face and suggest future areas and forms of collaboration.
>> More Details | created on: 07/07/2006
A Fair Chance: Attaining Gender Equality in Basic Education by 2005
Action Aid: Global Campaign for Education, September, 2003
Describes BRAC's, an NGO in Bangladesh, innovative approach to curriculum design and school management that encourages children especially girls to attend school.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2006
CGAP IT Innovation Series
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, 2003
A series of handouts explaining requirements, how it works, benefits, and lessons from previous implementation of technological innovations in the microfinance sector such as automated teller machines, interactive voice response technology, and personal digital assistants.
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
What Works: PRODEM FFP’S Multilingual Smart ATMS for Microfinance. Innovative Solutions for Delivering Financial Services to rural Bolivia
By Roberto Hernandez & Yerina Mugica, Digital Dividend Business Case Study, 2003
This case study shows how the implementation of smart cards and digital fingerprint recognition technology has improved customer’s accessibility to PRODEM financial services. This technology was designed while prioritizing customer’s needs and achieving lower cost.
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
Case Study Series – ICICI Bank
By Todd J. Markson & Michael Hokenson, Michigan Ross School of Business, 2003
The number of people living on less than $1 per day in India is significantly greater than the entire population of the United States. From a social perspective, this is a humanitarian pandemic. From an economic perspective, these people represent the B
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
Sustainable Expansion Strategies, Case Studies of 18 Regional Leaders in Microfinance
Microfinance Center for Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, 2003
Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States (CEE & the NIS) are the newest frontier in microfinance. While a few microfinance institutions (MFIs) have existed for nearly ten years, the average MFI in the region is three years old. A key di
>> More Details | created on: 01/19/2006
Powering Social Change - Lessons on Community Wealth Generation for Nonprofit Sustainability
Community Wealth Ventures, 2003
Many of the country’s most innovative nonprofit leaders are transforming their organizations by creating new, unrestricted sources of funding. Through business ventures, cause-related marketing partnerships, and licensing agreements, nonprofits are generating revenue to support their services and grow to scale.
>> More Details | created on: 07/06/2006
Case Study: Adriadna and the International Education Center for Youth
By Sutia Kim Alter, In Case Studies in Social Enterprise Counterpart International’s Experience, September, 2002
Case Studies in Social Enterprise: Counterpart International's Experience explains: (1) social enterprise, (2) its importance as a developmental tool in emerging economies around the world, and (3) through four in-depth case studies in Ukraine, highlights
>> More Details | created on: 01/23/2006
Case Studies in Social Enterprise: Counterpart International Experience
By Sutia Kim Alter, Counterpart International, Inc, 2002
Documents case studies of four nonprofit business ventures in Ukraine, which were part of the Counterpart Alliance for Partnership Social Enterprise Program. The cases highlight challenges, social impact, business results, and key success factor of these social enterprises.
>> More Details | created on: 02/20/2006
Skills and Literacy Training for Better Livelihoods: A Review of Approaches and Experiences
By John Oxenham et al., World Bank: Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series, 2002
Describes how the Kenyan Government and NGOs such as PLAN International collaborate to improve education.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2006
What Works: Tarahaat’s Portal for Rural India
By Caitlin Peterson & Vivek Sandell, A Digital Dividend Study for the World Resources Institute, July, 2001
TARAhaat is an Internet portal supporting a network of franchised village Internet centers in rural India. It delivers a wide range of social and economic information, as well as educational and other services, earning revenues through fee for service, membership fees, and commissions.
>> More Details | created on: 02/22/2006
Primary Education for All in the City of Mumbai, India: Challenges set by local actors
By Nalini Juneja, UNESCO: International Institute for Education Planning, 2001
This document provides information on the role of various actors in primary education in Mumbai. It also shows how local NGOs working with each other and the government form partnerships and networks to improve education.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2006
A Point of Light in Mumbai
By Rukmini Banjeri et al., The McKinsey Quarterly, 2001 (Provides free access to some articles, but previous registration is required.)
This article discusses the work done by Pratham, an education NGO based in Mumbai, India that has effectively partnered with the government and corporations including ICICI Bank and Hindustan Petroleum to improve education standards in Mumbai. The article highlights strategies used by Pratham to make themselves a cost-effective NGO reaching its goals. Visit www.pratham.org for more information about the organization.
>> More Details | created on: 02/14/2006
The Microcredit Summit’s Challenge: Working Towards Institutional Financial Self-Sufficiency while Maintaining a Commitment to Serving the Poorest Families
By David S. Gibbons & Jennifer Meehan, June, 2000
Studies the cases of CARD, CRECER and FINCA Uganda, microfinance institutions that have reached institutional financial self-sufficiency and also serve large numbers of the poorest households. Identifies lessons in key areas that can be learned from these experiences.
>> More Details | created on: 02/21/2006
Cross-sector Collaboration: Lessons from the International Trachoma Initiative
By Diana Barrett et al., Paper presented at the Workshop on Public-Private Partnerships in Public Health, April 7, 2000
Discusses the partnership between the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Pfizer, Inc. to form the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), a non-profit organization dedicated to implementing a multi-faceted strategy to combat trachoma.
>> More Details | created on: 02/23/2006
Enterprising Foundations: The Corona Foundation, Hogar de Cristo, & The FES Foundation
NESsT Case Study Series, 2000 (free subscription requ'd)
>> View Article | created on: 01/16/2006