Social sector organizations are in the business of changing the world, and the information they collect and use should be the catalyst for making that happen. That way, local social entrepreneurs can mimic what works elsewhere and share their ideas, successes, and failures.

“Measure impact” has become a mantra for creating social change. Claims about making a difference are no longer sufficient; evidence of how much difference you’re making is now required.

How many views make a YouTube video a success? How about 1.5 million? That’s how many views a video of DoSomething.org, posted in 2011 got. Success! Then came the data report: only eight viewers had signed up to donate equipment, and zero actually donated. Suddenly, it was clear that for DoSomething.org, views did not equal Lees meer

We’ve seen amazing leaps forward in cleantech and renewable energy technologies, and will see even bigger leaps in the near future, due to this next generation of teenagers coming of age during a time when our energy and environmental problems are really hitting home.

Generation Y, those born between 1977-1998, is showing signs of a major shift in green attitudes and behaviour. Often considered to be “born green” because they grew up in a society where eco-consciousness was becoming a norm, and often to baby boomer parents who founded the environmental movement, it is only recently that Generation Y Lees meer

Nadat ze kinderen in India zag drinken uit een plas stilstaand water, werd de 14-jarige Deepika Kurup uit New Hampshire geïnspireerd om te helpen om een oplossing te vinden voor het watertekort in ontwikkelingslanden. Na veel onderzoek ontwikkelde ze een waterzuiveringssysteem op zonne-energie die haar een beloning van 25.000 dollar opleverde. www.happynews.nl is green hosted by Lees meer

Corporaties kunnen als kleinschalige wijkcoöperaties de transitie leiden van de oude dolgedraaide verzorgingsstaat naar sociaal-duurzame wijkversterking. De enorme groei aan community initiatieven en social enterprises vormt een krachtige basis voor sociaal-duurzame samenlevingsopbouw.

Social entrepreneurs can effectivily address social problems such as poverty, lack of education, and disease. But they have virtually no access to capital markets. The biggest obstacle to scale for the social sector is a lack of effective funding models.

A pioneering collective of mentors aged 50-plus are sharing their extraordinary powers – that is, a lifetime’s worth of skills – in talks, tours, workshops and classes throughout London. The Amazings, a social enterprise venture launched in 2012, is set to roll out across the UK in 2013, which has been billed as a ‘marketplace for wisdom’.

As the tech world creates more and more young millionaires, the question is: How will they give back? The Facebook founder’s recent donations give some hints, and it’s clear that others are following his model.