Month: July 2008

SocialVibe: A Social Media Platform That Helps Raise Money For Charities

I searched through my site and realized that I hadn’t yet covered SocialVibe. I consider this organization one of the more successful web based social enterprises. These guys are L.A. based, raised venture capital, and just announced that they’ve raised over $100k in donations since they launched six months ago. The company said that in… Continue reading SocialVibe: A Social Media Platform That Helps Raise Money For Charities

VisionSpring Launches A Blog: Business In A Bag

VisionSpring, an Acumen Fund portfolio company, uses a wholesale distribution and franchising model to administer vision tests and sell low-cost reading glasses to India’s poor who are suffering from reduced vision. They do this by recruiting local Vision Entrepreneurs who are trained to operate a mini franchise, and travel from village to village to conduct… Continue reading VisionSpring Launches A Blog: Business In A Bag

Using “White Space” Airwaves To Address The Digital Divide

An article from Washington Post about a handful of tech companies, including Google, that want to use white space airwaves to provide broadband to rural areas. Engineers from the technology heavyweights, including Motorola and Philips, lugged their laptops, antennas and other equipment to parks, homes and high-rises around the Washington area, hoping to prove to… Continue reading Using “White Space” Airwaves To Address The Digital Divide

Sundance Institute: Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship In Focus Through Documentary

Sundance Institute has initiated a Request for Proposals for STORIES OF CHANGE: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN FOCUS THROUGH DOCUMENTARY. The one-time funding initiative will provide $1.2 million in film project grants to enable the development and/or production of new feature-length independent documentary films that frame, examine and amplify social entrepreneurship as an innovative approach to the… Continue reading Sundance Institute: Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship In Focus Through Documentary

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A Very Interesting Freakanomics Article On Philanthropy

First, they confused charity with commerce: that is, they uncritically applied the language of outcome-oriented investment to efforts to change human behavior in social settings. Humans, alas, don’t operate neatly according to market logic, though incentives can shift behavior. Second, donors seem reluctant to talk about their own self interest. Instead of admitting their personal… Continue reading A Very Interesting Freakanomics Article On Philanthropy

Doing Good Is Smart Business

From Business Week: The qualities that make a product good for the developing world—sturdy, cheap, adaptable, modular, energy-efficient, environmentally sound, computer platform-neutral, and bandwidth-savvy—make it a good product, period. Suddenly “less is more” goes from abstract design ideal to the only viable option. This is why some of the most innovative ideas today are coming… Continue reading Doing Good Is Smart Business