Center for Social Innovation

Review: Random Family

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2004

Andrian Nicole LeBlanc offers an intimate exposé of crime and drugs in the inner city. Review by Anitra Lynn Waller

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

The Sound of No Music

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2004

Like many nonprofits, the Oakland Symphony failed to understand the distinction between mission and strategy. This mistake helped kill the venerable orchestra.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Playing Loose with God’s Money

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2004

A study shows that religious organizations lack financial controls.

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Making Change

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2004

Why does the social sector need social movements?

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Review: Trustees of Culture

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2004

Francie Ostrower wonders if elite boards are out of touch with their organizations’ true purpose. Review by Frances Philipps

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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How the Workplace Works — or Doesn't — for Families

We've made progress, says economist Myra Strober, but the system and potential role models still sometimes fail us.

Resource: News Article

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Save Your Teens, Save Your Marriage: Stanford's Brief Interventions

Short psychological interventions can change preconceptions, altering how people interact with their world. Effects are potent, cumulative and long lasting. Recent Stanford research reveals the benefits of brief interventions in both aggressive teens and antagonistic spouses.

Resource: News Article

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Giving the Gift of Our Time to Others

In this quarter’s column, we explore giving the gift of our time to others. It’s a fact that most Americans are feeling more time-constrained than ever. With waking hours largely consumed by work, precious minutes remain for the daily list of to-dos, including exercise, cleaning, and socializing with friends and family. For some, time has become an even more valuable resource than money.

Resource: News Article

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To Cheat or Not To Cheat

New research shows how subtle changes in language can lead to more ethical behavior.

Resource: News Article

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The Psychology of Re-Gifting

In this quarter’s column, we look at a common gift-giving practice: giving away a present you don’t really want. “Regifting” is generally regarded as a taboo, but is this practice really as offensive to the original giver as people think? And is there a way to shift cultural norms so as to promote this sort of gift recycling and reduce the trashing of perfectly good items?

Resource: News Article

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Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

One Acre at a Time

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011

One Acre Fund feeds the world’s poor by helping them feed themselves.

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Government

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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People Power

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

JOIN THE CLUB: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World by Tina Rosenberg

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Arts, Culture, and Religion, Education, Nonprofit Management

One Nation Under Gods

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

AMERICAN GRACE: How Religion Divides and Unites Us by Robert D. Putnam & David E. Campbell

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Passing the Mic

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

20UNDER40: Re-Inventing the Arts and Arts Education for the 21st Century Edited by Edward P. Clapp

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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Arts, Culture, and Religion, Human Rights

Airborne Peace

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2010

In Rwanda, Radio La Benevolencija uses soap operas to heal ethnic tensions

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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We Are the Possible: Meet Samuel Isaac Richard

Rosetta Thurman, author of Perspectives from the Pipeline blog, interviews Samuel Isaac Richard, an emerging, young, nonprofit leader based in Phoenix. She shares his insights on the next generation's ability to implement social change.

Resource: Blog Post

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We Are the Possible: Meet Lindsey McDougle

Rosetta Thurman interviews Lindsey McDougle, a doctoral student at the University of San Diego pursuing a degree in Leadership Studies with a specialization in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies. McDougle discusses what she has learned from her consulting work in the nonprofit sector: just like in the for-profit sector, leadership, strategy, and accountability are elements that all organizations, regardless of sectoral affiliation, must value. Nonprofit organizations often provide the services and goods to those most in need. Without effective leadership, deliberate strategy, and sound accountability, nonprofits run the risk of not only damaging public image of the sector, but also of letting down those who most rely on, and need, their services.

Resource: Blog Post

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Philanthropy: Science, Art or … Music?

The author draws a comparison between music’s ability to combine art and science with philanthropy’s ability to do the same.

Resource: Blog Post

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Giving Sector Should Invest in Social Media

The giving sector, especially in the face of the continuing economic crisis, needs to retool its model for charitable giving and fundraising. Nonprofits, for example, should start looking at building social media into their overall fundraising and communication strategies. Often reluctant to move beyond traditional strategies, whether or not those actually produce positive results, nonprofits should look at social-media tools that are changing the way people communicate, connect and spur one another to action.

Resource: Blog Post

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Generation Y and the Perils of Milli Vanilli Leadership

Generation Y leaders benefit from acting their age. The key to successful next generation leadership is to be who you are, not what you think an “official” nonprofit leader looks like. Craft your own brand of leadership, and others will see you as an authentic person they can follow and trust.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

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2011 Stanford Healthcare Summit

How do we get individuals to practice healthier habits and influence positive behavior change? The "Behavior Wizard" offers technology-based solutions in this audio lecture from the 2011 Stanford Graduate School of Business Healthcare Summit. B.J. Fogg, Director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, bring his insights from the tech world. In decades studying how computers and mobile apps can be used to bring about behavior change, Fogg found new applications for the health sector in promoting positive habits.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Challenges and Opportunities of Nationality

Social enterprise can both ease the terrible consequences of the insularity inherent in nationalism, and enhance the positive opportunities for social change within established heritage and cultural traditions. In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, experts consider topics ranging from multiculturalism within countries to cross-national and international cultural challenges and opportunities.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Social Entrepreneurship

Empathy and Ethics - Drivers of Our Shifting Culture

Technology has increased the flow of information and made our decision-making more transparent. In this panel discussion on empathy and ethics, Bill Drayton, Mary Gordon, Keith Hammonds, Kirk Hanson, and Jill Vialet consider how empathetic ethics has to begin with individuals and can only then move into the organizations we lead and the societies we serve.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Social Entrepreneurship

Social Innovators as Long-Horizon Creatives

At what stage in life do innovators make their most significant contributions to social enterprise? In this audio lecture, economist and creativity researcher David Galenson debunks the myth that high achievement is the domain of youth and genius for an audience of social entrepreneurs over the age of 60. Applying lessons learned from lives of artists and leaders, he considers differences in style and time horizons of creative people, emphasizing that social innovation is more about slow burn than flash in the pan.

Resource: Audio

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Making Good Eating Choices

The question of what to eat to be healthy has spawned a rash of often contradictory advice by "experts." In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Ethics and Society Program, NYU professor and author Marion Nestle offers simple advice that cuts through the confusion. She highlights the difference between "nutrients" and "food," and suggests how to bring "nutrition" back into the food realm. Her discussion forays into how agriculture and business interact to produce the foodstuffs on our shelves.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Human Rights, Leadership

Cory Booker's 2012 Commencement Address

Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, challenges Stanford graduates to be courageous, never lose faith and always work together during Stanford's 121st Commencement. He extolls lessons from his own father and grandfather through stories of hardship, hope, and humor. Booker encourages graduates to find and join their own "conspiracy of love" -- people who will help lift them up in times of need, provide a community and challenge them to go beyond what they think is possible.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

The Effectiveness of Message Framing to Influence Behavior

Most observers agree that human consumption is on a crash course with the environment. Although recycling programs have been implemented in many cities around the world, people often do not participate as often as they could. This research examines the effectiveness of messages that highlight the negative consequences of not recycling (loss frames) versus those that emphasize the positive consequences of recycling (gain frames) in influencing people's behavior.

Resource: Video

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Arts, Culture, and Religion, Health Care, Nonprofit Management

Using People's Irrationality To Do Good

Identifying effective obesity treatment is both a clinical challenge and a public health priority. Can monetary incentives stimulate weight loss? Leslie John presents a study that examines different economic incentives for weight loss during a 16 week intervention.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Human Rights, Leadership

Cory Booker's 2012 Commencement Address

Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, challenges Stanford graduates to be courageous, never lose faith and always work together during Stanford's 121st Commencement. He extolls lessons from his own father and grandfather through stories of hardship, hope, and humor. Booker encourages graduates to find and join their own "conspiracy of love" -- people who will help lift them up in times of need, provide a community and challenge them to go beyond what they think is possible.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

The Effectiveness of Message Framing to Influence Behavior

Most observers agree that human consumption is on a crash course with the environment. Although recycling programs have been implemented in many cities around the world, people often do not participate as often as they could. This research examines the effectiveness of messages that highlight the negative consequences of not recycling (loss frames) versus those that emphasize the positive consequences of recycling (gain frames) in influencing people's behavior.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Health Care, Nonprofit Management

Using People's Irrationality To Do Good

Identifying effective obesity treatment is both a clinical challenge and a public health priority. Can monetary incentives stimulate weight loss? Leslie John presents a study that examines different economic incentives for weight loss during a 16 week intervention.

Resource: Video

Topic:

2011 Stanford Healthcare Summit

How do we get individuals to practice healthier habits and influence positive behavior change? The "Behavior Wizard" offers technology-based solutions in this audio lecture from the 2011 Stanford Graduate School of Business Healthcare Summit. B.J. Fogg, Director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, bring his insights from the tech world. In decades studying how computers and mobile apps can be used to bring about behavior change, Fogg found new applications for the health sector in promoting positive habits.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Challenges and Opportunities of Nationality

Social enterprise can both ease the terrible consequences of the insularity inherent in nationalism, and enhance the positive opportunities for social change within established heritage and cultural traditions. In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, experts consider topics ranging from multiculturalism within countries to cross-national and international cultural challenges and opportunities.

Resource: Audio

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

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Circus Oz

Circus Oz, Australia’s premier, international circus, was exploring offering the new development officer position a higher-than-normal salary. The case and its companion videocase cover the organization’s dilemmas around this, and the situation’s resolution.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Innermotion on the Move

Innermotion dance company presents performances based on themes related to incest and childhood sexual abuse. This video explores how the founder must reexamine her focus and priorities when faced with the loss of a major grant.

Resource: Academic Case

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Visa Sponsorship Marketing

Visa’s executive vice president of international marketing, partnerships, and sponsorship played a key role in convincing Visa’s six regional boards and its international board to allow Visa to extend its Olympics and Paralympics sponsorship. His team planned to discuss the current corporate strategy and use it to refine the existing sponsorship strategy.

Resource: Academic Case

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The Seattle Theater Industry

By the close of 2001, theatres in Seattle were experiencing box office slumps. The vibrant theatre industry faced monumental challenges to remaining both critically acclaimed and financially sound.

Resource: Academic Case

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American Repertory Theatre in the 1990s

The directors of the American Repertory Theatre face major government cuts in funding. How can they best identify new sources of income?

Resource: Academic Case

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The Oregon Shakespeare Festival

From 1999 to 2003, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival completed a huge capital campaign. The case gives an in-depth examination of the organization’s planning process for this campaign.

Resource: Academic Case

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The San Francisco Symphony

By the end of 1993, the San Francisco Symphony faced a shift in its financial fortunes, with forecasts predicting annual budget shortfalls. The executive committee must develop a strategy for the symphony that balances its financial needs and its artistic commitments and aspirations.

Resource: Academic Case

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Bay Area Video Coalition

Bay Area Video Coalition, a nonprofit media services organization, has behaved like a high-tech business. Now it faces unique challenges and opportunities that are common to both nonprofit and for-profit businesses.

Resource: Academic Case

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Artists for Humanity

The executive director of a teen arts and entrepreneurship training program in Boston, Artists for Humanity, weighs issues of expansion, staff turnover, and fundraising. The organization’s challenges reflect those facing many small nonprofits, particularly those with an entrepreneurial arm.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Circus Oz

Circus Oz, Australia’s premier, international circus, was exploring offering the new development officer position a higher-than-normal salary. The case and its companion videocase cover the organization’s dilemmas around this, and the situation’s resolution.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Innermotion on the Move

Innermotion dance company presents performances based on themes related to incest and childhood sexual abuse. This video explores how the founder must reexamine her focus and priorities when faced with the loss of a major grant.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Visa Sponsorship Marketing

Visa’s executive vice president of international marketing, partnerships, and sponsorship played a key role in convincing Visa’s six regional boards and its international board to allow Visa to extend its Olympics and Paralympics sponsorship. His team planned to discuss the current corporate strategy and use it to refine the existing sponsorship strategy.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

The Seattle Theater Industry

By the close of 2001, theatres in Seattle were experiencing box office slumps. The vibrant theatre industry faced monumental challenges to remaining both critically acclaimed and financially sound.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

American Repertory Theatre in the 1990s

The directors of the American Repertory Theatre face major government cuts in funding. How can they best identify new sources of income?

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

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Supporting Equality in Education

How can a certain kind of behavior actually contributes to inequalities? Specifically, do children’s social-class backgrounds affect when and how they seek help in the classroom, thereby teasing out children’s own role in educational stratification? We consider how teachers may use such information to correct these dynamics, and thus contribute to more equal access for all children at school.

Resource: Research Paper

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Taking the Macho Out of Offshore Oil Rigs

Crew members on an offshore oil rig toned down their bluster and macho behavior as an unexpected side effect of an initiative to cut down on-the-job injuries. The case study, coauthored by Debra Meyerson of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, could present a model for minimizing the effects of gender in other work settings.

Resource: Research Paper

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A Brief Social-Belonging Intervention Improves Academic and Health Outcomes of Minority Students

A brief intervention aimed at buttressing college freshmen's sense of social belonging in school was tested in a randomized controlled trial, and its academic and health-related consequences over 3 years are reported. The intervention aimed to lessen psychological perceptions of threat on campus by framing social adversity as common and transient.

Resource: Research Paper

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Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants

What happens when restaurants are required to post calorie counts alongside food and beverage offerings? Average calories per transaction falls by 6 percent, researchers find.

Resource: Research Paper

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"Why Didn't You Just Ask?"

Vanessa Bohns and Francis Flynn demonstrate that people in a position to provide help tend to underestimate the role that embarrassment plays in decisions about whether or not to ask for help. As a result, potential helpers overestimate the likelihood that people will ask for help and misjudge the most effective means of encouraging help-seeking behavior.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

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Lives of Consequence: How Individuals Discover Paths to Meaningful Engagement: OB 383

This course examines the lives of individuals who have contributed greatly to society, either through business, politics, arts and entertainment, or other pursuits. We take a close look, for example, at the "paths to prominence" of individuals such as Steve Jobs, Condi Rice, George Lucas, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

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Arts, Culture, and Religion, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Education, Human Rights, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Dave DeForest-Stalls (EPNL '07)

Dave DeForest-Stalls wants to help kids stay out of gangs. He's providing mentorship and hip ways to keep youth on the straight and narrow.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Philanthropy & Responsible Investing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Government, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Ruth Bolan (EPNL '06)

Ruth Bolan is giving voice to indigenous peoples of the Pacific Island. She funds documentaries that bring their culture and challenges to millions of viewers.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Economic Development, Education, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Peter Hero (MBA '66)

Peter Hero has been helping philanthropists make a social impact for two decades. He's now inspiring students to get involved in social entrepreneurship.

Resource: Alumni

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The Rejection of Moral Rebels: Resenting Those Who Do the Right Thing

This article documents the rejection of moral rebels through four separate studies.

Resource: Research Paper

Topic :

The Economic Environment of American Symphony Orchestras

This study collects facts about cyclical and trend-related economic developments in the symphony orchestra industry. It also examines influences on performance and nonperformance revenues and expenses of orchestras.

Resource: Research Paper

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Government

From Sucker to Saint: Moralization in Response to Self-Threat

The authors show that moral judgments can be more deeply embedded in judges' immediate social contexts--and are driven more by motivations to maintain self-image--than is typically appreciated in contemporary moral psychology research.

Resource: Research Paper

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Praise the Lord, but Dim the Lights

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2008

The Regeneration Project helps the environmental movement get religion. —By Suzie Boss