< More Strong Communities

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Stanford Social Innovation Review - Spring 2010 Issue
Center for Social Innovation Stanford GSB

February, 2010

Stanford Social Innovation Review's spring issue is now available online and as a downloadable digital edition. The print version is just starting to arrive in mailboxes across the country and around the world. Look for your copy soon!

Highlights: Spring 2010 Issue

FEATUREs

Merging Wisely
With the economy in turmoil, funders are increasingly pressuring nonprofits to merge. Yet mergers are not always the right path for nonprofits in financial distress. For a healthier nonprofit sector, funders should consider a wider variety of partnership options.

The Case for Stakeholder Engagement
Grantmaking initiatives often fail when the foundation remains isolated from its grantees and the communities they both serve. To remedy this problem, grantmakers must work more closely with their grantees, community leaders, and other important stakeholders. This engagement helps everyone involved gain a deeper understanding of the problems they are tackling, create new and better solutions, and build more effective organizations.

What Works

Settling Up—Upwardly Global places skilled immigrants in jobs worthy of their talents.

FIRST PERSON

All Entrepreneurship is Social—Let's not overlook what traditional entrepreneurs contribute to society.

Q&A

Joanne Weiss—Joanne Weiss is in charge of the federal government's $4.3 billion Race to the Top Fund, a new program that is funding innovations in K-12 education.

The Latest From the SSIR Blog

Timothy Ogden: Patient Optimists

I'm not an "impatient optimist" like Bill and Melinda Gates . When it comes to making the world a better place, I think impatient optimists are quite possibly a part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Led by some terrific organizations, the nonprofit and social entrepreneurship sector is generating solid evidence on the effectiveness of programs aimed at alleviating poverty, combating homelessness, preserving natural resources and the like. The Obama administration has embraced this emphasis on rigorous evidence—and caused many in the sector to raise the specter of "epistemological nihilism" or paralysis due to demands for proof that is too hard and expensive to generate.

The real problem, and the real fear, among nonprofits and social entrepreneurs is ... >>Continue reading this post

Subscribe to social change!

We're offering new and renewing subscribers the Stanford Social Innovation Review magazine for 23% off! Act now and pay only $39.95 for one year.

FROM OUR PARTNERS

GuideStar Charity Check: IRS Compliant. Grantmaker Approved.

What: Comprehensive due-diligence tool for grantmakers
Who should subscribe: Private foundations, sponsoring organizations of donor-advised funds
Why: To avoid excise taxes on unqualified distributions
How: Incorporates IRS Business Master File and Publication 78 data into one report.
100% compliant with IRS regulations
Learn more.

Microfinance, USA

May 20-21, San Francisco
Opportunity Fund, Kiva, and ACCION U.S. Network present Microfinance USA: the place where microfinance practitioners, investors, and enthusiasts meet. Register by March 15th for a $50 discount! Tours, Taste of Microentrepreneurship reception and more! Featured speaker: Maria Shriver, First Lady of California. www.microfinanceusa2010.org

Sustainable Haiti Conference

March 17-19, Miami
Sustainable Haiti is the largest economic conference ever undertaken on behalf of Haiti. Over 45 panels and 100+ speakers, from March 17th- March 19th, 2010 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
www.haiticonference.com

Leading a Social Enterprise? Apply for the 2010 SVN Innovation Awards!

Social Venture Network will recognize and support the "next generation" of social entrepreneurs with the 2010 SVN Innovation Awards, presented by Utne Reader. Winners will be honored at SVN's Fall Conference, featured in Utne Reader, and receive a free year of SVN membership.
www.svn.org/awards