Social Effect

The Great Marine Project is based in Malaysia on t...

2008-12-28T15:46:00.000Z

The Great Marine Project is based in Malaysia on the Islands of Perhentian. The purpose of the volunteer project is to stop Green Turtles going extinct in the local area. Turtle nests have dropped by over 80% in the last 40 years and they are close to local extinction. If you want to be a turtle volunteer or marine volunteer visit the Great marine Project .

Dave, you're absolutely right. This is just what I...

2008-11-05T13:20:00.000Z

Dave, you're absolutely right. This is just what I was going to move on to in my next post. Charities that have been around a long time and have well established business models, will survive the credit the same way as social enterprise will - positively. Unfortunately for a lot of small community charities, this will not be the case. It is not as simple as suggesting that the struggle is a function of refusing to engage with the world as it is, but more a case of difficulties in adapting to major environmental shift without free capacity or funding to enable change.

This is a very pessimistic view of the charity sec...

2008-11-05T13:07:00.000Z

This is a very pessimistic view of the charity sector. I have a more hopeful view that many charitable organisations will survive the credit crunch. Those charities that fail will be those who refuse to engage with the world as it is and to make changes to cope with the pressures on funding and support that the credit crunch will impose on all of us.

I believe that modern, forward looking charities are already running associated trading arms and forging partnerships with commercial organisations in which entreprenerial skills can be used effectively.

The chaity that I work for has been around for almost a hundred and fifty years. We have a great team of trustees, staff and volunteers who have inherited a great deal of wisdom and experience from our predecessors and will add that to our own initiative and determination to succeed.

Regards
Dave Thomas

Hi, thanks for embedding my slides! I believe that...

2008-10-20T13:45:00.000+01:00

Hi, thanks for embedding my slides! I believe that every change holds not only threats but also opportunities - exactly because routines are put into question.
Cheers,
Ines (http://this-moment-now.blogspot.com)

Hi Rizwan,

Thanks again for guest posting o...

2008-10-18T07:06:00.000+01:00

Hi Rizwan,

Thanks again for guest posting on Making Social Change A Reality. You helped us make Blog Action Day 2008 a success for our organization. I predict next year will be even better!

I'll definitely be in touch and look forward to guest posting on your blog in the near future.

Regards,
Chanelle
http://thelpproject.blogspot.com

I definitely agree with you here. Social enterpris...

2008-10-14T16:59:00.000+01:00

I definitely agree with you here. Social enterprises will rise above and make it through. Funding scarcity and/or economic inefficiency is one of the reasons they started in the first places.

My alma mater, Babson College just received a $10 million dollar gift to establish a social entrepreneurship institute at the college. Being #1 for entrepreneurship, they understand the importance and value social entrepreneurship adds to business and the nonprofit sector so I expect to see great things coming from them in the future.

In case anyone is interested, here's the press release, http://www3.babson.edu/Newsroom/Releases/lewisannouncement.cfm.

Really enjoyed your post. Keep up the great work!

Regards,
Chanelle Carver
Literacy 'n' Poverty Project
www.literacyandpovertyproject.com
http://thelpproject.blogspot.com

As a fellow blogger, I also wonder why I get so fe...

2008-10-10T13:42:00.000+01:00

As a fellow blogger, I also wonder why I get so few comments. However, I continue blogging because I believe in what I have to say, I try to keep somewhere near on-topic and because some people read what I have to say.

I came to this blog via your post on the volunteering / favours debate, but didn't comment that one. But it was surfing your blog and finding this post that has inspired me to leave a comment.

Regards
ChuffingHog

How Social Collaboration helps to increase traffic...

2008-09-23T12:11:00.000+01:00

How Social Collaboration helps to increase traffic for a site related categories and provide effective result?

Thanks! Changed now. I summarised while listening ...

2008-09-22T09:57:00.000+01:00

Thanks! Changed now. I summarised while listening rather than watching :)

Great post. The summarization on top is really use...

2008-09-22T04:55:00.000+01:00

Great post. The summarization on top is really useful.

Just one correction, as I was watching the video, I realized that the second point listed is incorrect, it should be "Share" instead of "Cheer".

Valuable resource of volunteer news summaries:
2008-09-20T03:14:00.000+01:00
Valuable resource of volunteer news summaries: http://ng2000.com/ng2000bb/YaBB.pl?num=1221634947

Dear Rizwan,

Thanks for your sharing freeso...

2008-08-31T23:01:00.000+01:00

Dear Rizwan,

Thanks for your sharing freesouls slideshow here.

I'd like to tell you I created a mini freesouls 100 campaign.

Now you and your friends could submit a slide with a photo and message about freesoul.

8 people have submitted, 92 more needed.

Help us to spread this campaign to your readers and friends.

Many thanks!

--------

Freesouls group on Slideshare.net
http://www.slideshare.net/group/freesouls

Freesouls 100 Master deck:
http://www.slideshare.net/OliverDing/freesouls-100-master-deck-20080828-presentation

Freesouls 100 Introduction:
http://www.slideshare.net/OliverDing/freesouls-100-introduction-presentation

----------

Oliver Ding
http://blog.swordi.com
twitter:oliverding
friendfeed:oliverding

Thinking of designing your own website?

Try...

2008-08-25T03:36:00.000+01:00

Thinking of designing your own website?

Try www.esolz.net , a professional company which I came across while developing my website. Although I was skeptical about outsourcing my project to an offshore company, my mind was put at rest upon reviewing their proposal. It was clear that www.esolz.net is a team made up of solid web designers who provide quality, value, and support. From day one they consulted with me and involved me in every aspect of the site development.
They completed the project within the agreed 30 days and have exercised extreme diligence in maintaining the website since then.
Check out my website at www.ventureden.com

Ventureden is a global meeting place where entrepreneurs connect with angel investors and venture capitalists in order to secure startup or expansion funding for their business venture.
Entrepreneurs post their business idea or invention and instantly gain worldwide exposure.

Angel investors and venture capitalists leisurely explore investment opportunities, all from the comforts of office or home.

No matter if you?re an entrepreneur or investor, thanks to www.esolz.net our system is simple to use. Make www.esolz.net your outsourcing partner, you won?t regret it.

Regards,
Dan
www.ventureden.com
www.esolz.net

Name: Daniel Cimera
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Email: salesinfo@ventureden.com

I'm one of those who read your blogging on my emai...

2008-08-20T09:51:00.000+01:00

I'm one of those who read your blogging on my email and do appreciate what is written. I haven't quite got into blogging and blog reading in the same way so its true what you say about some of us. I can relate to information and networking overload! Hope you can stay motivated.
Sarfraz

Regarding social collaboration, you should check o...

2008-07-28T09:46:00.000+01:00

Regarding social collaboration, you should check out YouFig (www.youfig.com). Very useful service.

The excellent Picasa and Google Analytics are the ...

2008-02-13T19:04:00.000Z

The excellent Picasa and Google Analytics are the Google apps I use most, and Feedburner is excellent too.

I've been using Bloglines for a few years so am a bit wedded to it - but have heard good things about Google Reader. I'm not a big fan of Blogger - in terms of free blog software I think Wordpress.com has much more to offer.

I also think the dichotomy between social and mone...

2008-02-12T15:00:00.000Z

I also think the dichotomy between social and money is not so black and white. I would add Bill Gates on "creative capitalism" and Muhammad Yunus on Social Businesses to the discussion.

I've been interning at Ashoka and getting to listen to their social entrepreneurs who come through the office I would say none of them are motivated by money. All are driven by social goals, their business savvy, use of income generation and entrepreneurial spirit are all simply tools to reach their social mission.

I have likewise experienced that internal pull between pursuing social goals or my own financial security considering the ocean of wealth around me in the United States. I would propose that a true socially driven entrepreneur would rid themselves from the allure of personal wealth; I believe it is primarily an issue of the heart and motivation.

Great to hear different opinion, because on a pers...

2008-02-11T15:24:00.000Z

Great to hear different opinion, because on a personal level I think I'm still trying to understand exactly what a social entrepreneur is. What I was getting at is that social enterprise is about not about one or the other, but both money and social impact together, which are usually topics that we're socially enculturated into thinking of as mutually exclusive. Hence the dichotomy, and the subsequent internal conflict. The other definitions glamorise social enterprise a bit I think, and still feel that they are partly exercises in the use of big words. 'innovative solutions', 'transformational change', 'entrepreneurial principles' all sound a bit like jargon to me.

On the other hand, the idea of making meaning is very interesting and I can see that i could just be thinking too literally around the definition of enterprise. Maybe being enterprising in this context is really more about how you approach the creation and management of solutions to social problems.

Thanks and keep your thoughts coming!

Don't agree with your dismissal of these definitio...

2008-02-11T13:22:00.000Z

Don't agree with your dismissal of these definitions as exercises of big and fancy words Riz ;) I think they're well rounded and do the job quite well (Wikipedia's is particularly clear and to the point). The dichotomy you've described is more of a description of one of the challenges/dilmmas that (some) social entrepreneurs face, than an actual definition of what actually makes them. No?

I don't think it's actually that black and white (you're either driven by money or social change). Julie Brown of Growing Communities in her Smarta interview last Thursday at the Women Social Leadership awards explained that she actually really enjoyed the 'making and managing money' aspect of her Social enterprise (although she's not making any for herself of course!). Making money and driving social change aren't necessarily mutually exclusive and sometimes one is used to drive the other and vice versa. Money in this case is a tool to develop and expand your Social Enterprise and so being driven by it isn't seen as an issue. It's simply an enabler (and a motivator) to helping you achieve a 'higher' purpose.

Rizwan - Thanks for your comment on my post about ...

2008-02-11T13:08:00.000Z

Rizwan - Thanks for your comment on my post about Entrepreneurial types:
http://www.cheaprevolution.com/the_cheap_revolution/2007/01/entrepreneurial.html

My typology is really geared around motivation and business maturity. You touch on motivation here (socially oriented or materially oriented)? However, I encourage all entrepreneurs to "make meaning" (using Guy Kawasaki's mantra for entrepreneurs). You should be able to make meaning in your business regardless of whether your primary motivation is a material one or a social one. I also believe that you can focus on providing value to a group and the money will follow if you do that well.

Food for thought. Thanks!
- Skip

If you've found the above useful, also check out t...

2008-02-07T11:50:00.000Z

If you've found the above useful, also check out this one from the same consultancy:

http://www.slideshare.net/faberNovel/social-network-websites-best-practices-from-leading-services

General benchmarking study on Social Networking sites, with case studies focused on matchmaking and business networks. The latter is of particular interest to me currently so if you find other similar material, please share!

In the geek world for technical problems, generall...

2008-02-04T00:57:00.000Z

In the geek world for technical problems, generally, there is always a definitive, logical work around or answer to the question. What is useful is when the best solution can be flagged by the sys admin, blog owner or the user who opened the technical discussion....if only non-technical issues could be so linear, could blogs draw in a common sense solution.

Perhaps if there were time limits on blog discussions could this then rapidly grow and develop clearer, definitive solutions? Also if a neutral player could summarise the discussion and even slant a favoured approach/concept/idea etc....guess like a judge to the jury, once both cases had been put forward the judge can slant his summary to the jury accordingly...).

Also further discussions could be drawn off the conclusive summary...

Either way every topical Blog needs a judge and I'm all for Judge Riza!!

As a Jack Black fan, there's times when I wish we ...

2008-01-31T14:41:00.000Z

As a Jack Black fan, there's times when I wish we were more like School of Rock. In our own way, though, we "do stick it to The Man".

Cheers
School for Social Entrepreneurs

You took the test! entertaining classification to ...

2008-01-22T10:54:00.000Z

You took the test! entertaining classification to say the least!

Here's another one for you. It launched very recently and should hopefully prove a little more useful? It's based on the following book (which I haven't read): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mullins-entrepreneurs-executives-Entrepreneurs-Executives/dp/0273708058/ref=sr_1_1/202-9976423-2307008?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187281797&sr=1-1

Let me know how good it is if you decide to take it:
http://www.venturenavigator.telegraph.co.uk/

I meant the phrasing 'Feel the fear and do it anyw...

2008-01-19T00:14:00.000Z

I meant the phrasing 'Feel the fear and do it anyway' is a bit cheesy - i.e. the sort of thing you might see on a 'No Fear' t-shirt :) but really still a valid approach worth considering!