Where Most Needed

Doonesbury Plugs DonorsChoose

Product placement in a comic strip puts the focus on a well-promoted online charity venture.  But a look at the financial statements suggests that there may be bottlenecks ahead as the organization tries to scale up. 

Harvard Business School's Modest Social Entrepreneurs

Compared with their enterprising west coast rivals, social entrepreneurs at HBS seem downright genteel.

Transforming Trends in Christian Philanthropy

Sponsor of an annual conference for Christian philanthropists shares his thoughts, with a candid assessment of fundamental shifts in the nature of Christian giving. 

The Money to be Made in Microfinance

Harvard provides an example of the claims being made about the business opportunity of lending to the poor, thirty years after the founding of the Grameen Bank.

Twenty Most Important Charity Stories of 2006

They may not be the stories that gained the most attention, but in my opinion are the most important stories about the charity industry in this last year. 

Machismo and the Microfinanciers

Muhammad Yunis won the Nobel peace prize for transforming the business of loan sharks into microcredit for poor women.  A new generation of (male) market-oriented investors could be reversing the process.