Nonprofit Management : Center for Social Innovation (CSI)

Articles : All | News Articles | Stanford Social Innovation Review Articles | Blog Posts

Topic :

Human Rights, Nonprofit Management

What’s Next: Stopping Child Porn

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

Computer imaging technology gets put to work to fight child porn fast—five-millisecond-fast.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Human Rights, Nonprofit Management

The Power of Many

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

The Tahirih Justice Center multiplies its impact by creatively using pro bono attorneys.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Research: Generation Me at the Office

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Winter 2011

Today’s youngest generation of workers are, on average, less self-less than previous generations. How will this affect the nonprofit sector?

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Business, Nonprofits, Social Policy, Human Rights, Leadership, Nonprofit Management

Work-Life Balance: Men Want It, Too

The pay gap is narrowing between men and women in the workplace as is the percent of time men and women spend on family duties, but workplace policies have not caught up with these new realities, Professor Myra Strober says in an essay in U.S. Banker.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Business, Nonprofits, Nonprofit Management

Freeing the Social Entrepreneur

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2010

Social entrepreneurs are often reluctant to relinquish control and create strong leadership teams. Unless they make this important transition, the organizations entrepreneurs worked hard to create are unlikely to scale or have the desired impact.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Creating Solidarity Through Unusual Acts of Kindness

What inspires people to act selflessly, help others, and make personal sacrifices? Unusual acts of kindness—like giving something away to someone you don’t even know and getting nothing in return—happens numerous times every day, in the form of blood donation, providing online reviews, and so on. In each case, someone provides a useful good, service, or bit of advice free of charge. In academic circles, this type of giving is referred as “generalized exchange.” Generalized exchange stands in contrast to “direct exchange,” in which payments are made or reciprocity is expected. Professor Frank Flynn and colleagues, Robb Willer and Sonya Zak, looked at these unusual acts of kindness and examined whether generalized exchange systems can create more solidarity than direct exchange systems.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

How Do You Encourage Recycling?

Recycling programs abound, but people are often lackadaisical about putting plastic, paper, glass, and metal into those bins. How can we get more people to recycle? An intervention recently conducted in Canada is pointing the way, and the message is all about ... well, the messaging.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Leadership, Nonprofit Management

Why Feelings of Guilt May Signal Leadership Potential

Stanford GSB researchers find that how people respond to mistakes can be a "clue to who they are.”

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Marketing for Good

GSB Marketing Professor Jennifer Aaker says social media can help for-profits, nonprofits, and government organizations address a deficit of trust in our current culture.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Government, Human Rights, Leadership, Nonprofit Management

Japanese Alumni Test Their Post-Disaster Leadership Mettle

As Japan shifts from disaster relief to rebuilding, GSB alumni see opportunities for change and renewal.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofits, Nonprofit Management

The Nonprofit Paradox

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2010

Nonprofits tend to recreate within their own organizational cultures the very social problems they are trying to solve.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Global Issues, Government Programs, Nonprofits, Philanthropy, Government, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Fueling Growth

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2010

Riders for Health had won international acclaim for its novel approach to maintaining health transport vehicles in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the organization was having trouble scaling its services at its first site: Gambia. Here is how the organization won both government support and private funding for its latest innovation.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofits, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Scaling Impact

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2010

Scaling requires not only fidelity to core processes and programs, but also constant adjustments to local needs and resources.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofits, Online Giving, Philanthropy, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Working Wikily

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2010

Most nonprofits use social media like Facebook and Twitter as an ancillary part of what they do. A few organizations, however, are using these tools to fundamentally change the way they work and increase their social impact.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Merging Wisely

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2010

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.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Arts Policy Redux: A Board of Artists that Can’t Govern

A furor has accompanied the National Academy Museum’s decision to sell paintings to pay for operating expenses. The Nonprofiteer argues that sometimes such drastic steps are necessary in a crisis.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Government, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Power Politics in the Giving Sector

Nonprofits should indeed be pushing the incoming administration for a greater voice in helping to shape the policies that affect nonprofits and the communities they serve. But the conversation needs to include the voice of smaller nonprofits, not just large organizations.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

How to Fund Nonprofit Mergers and Partnerships

Mergers may require their own specific funding. The author recommends various sources for such funding.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Will 2009 Bring Social Learning Spaces to Life?

Using social media tools to engage online requires more than just setting up Facebook groups and blogs. It involves effectively creating “social media spaces.”

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

10 Ways to Become a Better Nonprofit Leader in 2009

A top ten list of things to enhance your leadership in the nonprofit field.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Collaborating to Wire NGOs

Aid organizations around the world are learning that they can solve their technology and infrastructure problems faster and cheaper together than on their own. Enabling that collaboration is NetHope, a nonprofit information technology consortium helping NGOs establish the technology "ecosystems" they need to serve constituencies in more than 150 countries. Eric Nee interviews Bill Brindley, CEO of NetHope, on how the consortium got started, how it works, and how it is expanding its mission.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Evaluation for Learning

Nonprofits tend to collect a great deal of evaluative data but often have no idea how to use it to assess their performance--particularly because doing so properly is a complicated process requiring serious social sciences knowledge. In this panel discussion, part of the Stanford Social Innovation Review's conference on evaluation, two experts talk about how an organization may better use such data--as well as "external" information in the form of theory and advice--to create a "culture of inquiry" focused on learning and improvement.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Assessing Performance and Refining Strategy

What does it take to keep a large foundation focused on evaluation for self-improvement? As part of the Stanford Social Innovation Review's conference on evaluation, Carol Larson, CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, shares tools, lessons, and strategies for assessing performance to create a "culture of inquiry." Organizational qualities such as innovation, collaboration among stakeholders, and freedom to make "mistakes" are critical elements to foster an effective learning enterprise.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

What's the Impact of All This?

In considering the effectiveness of your social enterprise, are you making a difference? Do you add value to your constituents' lives? Are you as effective as possible per dollar output? In this panel discussion at the 2008 Skoll World Forum, talented experts talk about the challenges of social enterprises and how metrics can impact organizational learning and innovation, and lead the more effective use of resources.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Evaluation in the Nonprofit Sector

Evaluation is one of the most powerful mechanisms a nonprofit organization can use to unlock its potential, become more effective, and achieve success. But traditional evaluation methods are expensive, require thorough knowledge of the social sciences, and take a good deal of time to perform. In this part of the Stanford Social Innovation Review's conference on evaluation, Mark Kramer details how nonprofits can better incorporate evaluation to achieve their mission and bring about social change.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Education, Nonprofit Management

Remedying Group Disparities in School Achievement

Inequalities between socially marginalized and non-marginalized groups have led to poorer school and health outcomes for African Americans, Latino Americans, and other non-Asian ethnic minorities. Although many structural factors contribute to these inequalities, this study examines one psychological factor: concern about social belonging — a sense of having positive relationships with others.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Government, Nonprofit Management

A Behavioral Science Perspective on Why People Vote

The investigation into what messaging motivates people to vote and the effectiveness of facilitating a voting plan during a presidential election.

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:

Nonprofit Management

Know Your Sector

Nonprofits in the U.S. generate $1.1 trillion every year, which is more than the entire economies of Saudi Arabia and Sweden combined. "Know Your Sector", a video created by alum Ben Klasky (MBA '98), is intended as a resource for nonprofit employees, volunteers, and donors to better know the impact of their sector.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Moving From Insight to Action

At its worst, program evaluation is a useless activity that generates lots of boring data and irrelevant conclusions. But at its best, argues Mark Kramer in a talk he gave at the 2008 Nonprofit Management Institute, it can be a strategic tool for the genuine improvement of a nonprofit. He offers exemplars of organizations that have used evaluation effectively to advance their missions.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit Collaborations in Disaster Response

Nonprofit management faces one of its biggest challenges in the arena of disaster relief. In this audio interview, Neal Denton, senior VP of government relations and strategic partnerships at the American Red Cross discusses the value of his organization's relationship to the Partnership for Disaster Response. He discusses plans for strengthening this relationship and the role of the private sector in disaster response.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Government, Nonprofit Management

Learn to Love Lobbying

Fraser Nelson, a consultant to nonprofits, gives an entertaining lesson on the why and how of nonprofit lobbying. Most nonprofits do not lobby government for a variety of reasons, but Nelson explains that it is legal, effective, and powerful. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Nelson concludes with ways to get the most out of your lobbying efforts and five rules to follow.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector

Businesses are not the only organizations rocked by financial scandals. Nonprofits such as the Red Cross, United Way, and many others have been hit as well. In this Stanford Social Innovation Review sponsored audio lecture, Deborah Rhode discusses the need for an ethics upgrade in the nonprofit sector, which by its do-good nature is expected to take the moral high ground. She considers typical pitfalls that nonprofits are vulnerable to, and calls for clearer rules governing transparency and accountability.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

The Talent Gap in Nonprofit Management

[photo - Rodrigo Baggio, Deepti Doshi, Marc Freedman, Pamela Hartigan]

Over the last decade, social entrepreneurship has exploded on the international scene, with corresponding interest in setting up funds to support social ventures. While a whole spectrum of services exists to support the financial industry, the same isn't true of the nonprofit sector. In this panel discussion, experts talk about the need for addressing the talent gap in nonprofit managemnt along with ways to lure talented youngsters to bridge this gap.

Resource: Audio

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Breaking New Ground: Using the Internet to Scale

Commissioned by KaBOOM! and authored by Katherine Fulton and alumna Heather McLeod Grant of the Monitor Institute, this case study looks at the challenges KaBOOM! faced and lessons the organization learned while pioneering an online strategy to scale its impact. This strategy involves giving away the nonprofit model online for free to empower others to act on KaBoom's behalf.

Resource: Practitioner Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management

Wild Salmon Center

The Wild Salmon Center was created to provide anglers access to excellent fishing in return for funding research and conservation. The case discusses the Center’s efforts to protect the pristine watersheds of the Kamchatka Peninsula by developing ecotourism to raise funds for conservation.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

John Goldman: Creating the Next Generation of Philanthropists

John Goldman established the South Peninsula Jewish Community Teen Foundation in 2003, an innovative program that teaches Bay Area Jewish teens to run their own charitable foundation by developing mission statements, raising money, and distributing funds. As of 2009, the program has scaled to four chapters and raised and distributed $178,321 in funds.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Tipping Point Community

This case details the Tipping Point Community's attempts to quantify and grow its impact on poverty in local communities; while it was raising more than $14 million for organizations, it was still struggling to improve performance and outcomes.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Using Social Media to Save Lives: HelpVinayAndSameer.org

This case study presents new evidence on the power of social media for social good, using the example of Sameer Bhatia, whose friends created a website to help him find a bone barrow match to fight leukemia.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Social Service Mergers: HOPE Services and Skills Center

Four years after HOPE Services merged with the Skills Center, everyone considered the merger a success. But as with most for-profit and nonprofit mergers, the change was not without its costs and challenges.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Healthcare, Nonprofit Management

Institute for Healthcare Improvement: The Campaign to Save 100,000 Lives

In December 2004, the president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement challenged U.S. hospitals to reduce unnecessary deaths by 100,000 in the next 18 months. The case describes a campaign that incorporated lessons from politics and social activism.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

As Green As It Gets

As Green as It Gets was a nonprofit economic development organization supporting small, independent producers in disadvantaged Guatemalan communities. The founder pondered how to grow and sustain the organization.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Creating an Online Information Marketplace for Giving

The best nonprofits don’t necessarily get the most money, observed William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's Philanthropy Program officer Jacob Harold and president Paul Brest in 2007. From there they started exploring how they could improve the marketplace and how donors give their money. To that effect they hired consulting firm McKinsey & Company to explore the online information marketplace for giving space at a macro level, looking at trends and opportunities. Armed with data they then tried to figure out what to do.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management

Endeavor

Endeavor selects promising entrepreneurs and helps them develop and grow their businesses through mentorship and guidance. In 2007, founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg looked at the organization's expansion strategy.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Healthcare, Nonprofit Management

Riders for Health: Health Care Distribution Solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Riders for Health is a U.K.-based nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of transportation systems for health workers in Africa. In 2007, after 11 years in existence, the organization was at a critical point and had to decide what strategies were necessary to expand.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Lutherwood-CODA (Community Opportunities Development Association)

The Canadian nonprofit Lutherwood-CODA is engaged in a bold real estate project to develop a retirement community. Can the organization face a new level of financial risk associated with creating an assisted living center?

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Mirae: Charitable Giving in North Korea

Mirae, a group of affluent housewives in Seoul, is working to prepare for the reunification of the North and South by raising strategic funds. The group ponders how to create a nonprofit in a society that has traditionally thought of charity as an intra-family issue.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

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 :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Hewlett Foundation has used a theory-of-change model to structure its planning and evaluation efforts. In 2001, the Foundation endeavored to increase its effectiveness and accountability by formalizing its planning and assessment practices.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

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

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

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

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Give Them the Gift They're Expecting

When it comes to gift giving, most people are simply not paying enough attention to what others want says Professor Frank Flynn. They miss the boat by ignoring direct requests, wrongly assuming that going a different route will be seen as more thoughtful than something the recipient specifically requested.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Healthcare, Nonprofit Management

Reexploring Differences among For-Profit and Nonprofit Dialysis Providers

To determine whether profit status is associated with differences in hospital days per patient, an outcome that may also be influenced by provider financial goals.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government, Nonprofit Management

Morally Motivated Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is the private provision of public goods and private redistribution. This paper examines the scope of self-regulation motivated by altruistic moral preferences that are reciprocal and stronger the closer are citizens in a socioeconomic distance.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Government, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Social Pressures Affect Corporate Strategy and Performance

Social pressure plays a major role in determining corporate strategy and performance according to an award-winning paper coauthored by Professor David Baron. The researchers find that social pressure and social performance reinforce each other, greater social pressure is associated with lower financial performance, and financial and social performance are largely unrelated.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Strategic Management of Nonprofits: STRAMGT 368

This course surveys strategic, governance, and management issues facing a wide range of nonprofit organizations in an era of venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It introduces students to core managerial issues in the nonprofit sector, such as development/fundraising, investment management, performance management and nonprofit finance.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Ken Saxon (MBA '88)

Nonprofit executives dedicate their lives to many of society’s most intractable problems, yet are often overstretched and under-resourced. Ken Saxon speaks about founding Courage to Lead to build support and community around nonprofit executive leaders.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Susan Rothstein (MBA '78)

Susan reflects on her experience volunteering with a grassroots NGO in Cambodia and how she gained a new perspective on both the developing world and herself.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Board Governance, Business, Cause Marketing, Nonprofits, Social Enterprises, Socially Responsible Business, Environment, Leadership, Nonprofit Management

An interview with Michael DeLapa (MBA '85)

Michael DeLapa is heavily involved in environmental, land use, and energy issues. He has launched several non-profits in the Bay Area as well as the California Fisheries Fund.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Education, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with J. Charitha ("Chari") Ratwatte (MBA '09)

One of the first two Stanford GSB Social Innovation fellows, Chari works to provide economic opportunities to farmers in Sri Lanka.

Resource: Alumni , Fellow

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Environment, Government, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Court Gould (EPNL '06)

Court Gould is pushing for Pittsburgh to grow sustainably. He's working hard to inform decision makers about to accomplish that most effectively.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

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.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

What’s Next: Thriving on Failure

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011

Engineers Without Borders’ new website, Admitting Failure, gives new life to “good failures.” It aims to help organizations learn from others’ mistakes.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Local Empowerment Through Rapid Results

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011

Why local ownership and commitment are the exception and not the norm in most development efforts—and what development professionals can do about this problem.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Achieving Sustainability Through Integrated Reporting

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011

Integrated reporting—the combination of a company’s ﬁnancial and non-ﬁnancial performance in one document—is a crucial step to creating a more sustainable society. It is being practiced around the globe by companies as varied as Philips, Novo Nordisk, PepsiCo, and Southwest Airlines.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Education, Nonprofit Management

New School Economics

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Summer 2011

MORE THAN GOOD INTENTIONS: How a New Economics Is Helping to Solve Global Poverty by Dean Karlan & Jacob Appel

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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