Stanford Social Innovation Review

🌟 SSIR’s New Issue! Preventing Identity-Based Violence • Growing Community Together • Programmatic Asset Transfers for Social Impact 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eiBGsg_E The Spring ’25 Issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review features: “Preventing Identity-Based Violence From the Ground Up” by Susan Appe, David Campbell, and Kerry Whigham: Community-based organizations are working to heal the social fragmentation at the root of mass atrocity and identity-based violence. “Growing Community Together” by Seth Kaplan: Bonton Farms provides a model of a place-based solution that works by using community roots to support innovative connections to outside resources. “Programmatic Asset Transfers as a Strategic Tool for Social Impact” by Michelle Shumate, Lindsay Kijewski, Kate Piatt-Eckert, and Christine Thompson: Asset transfers are a valuable way to help both sides of the transfer achieve their goals. Subscribe now to SSIR to read these reviews and more: ssir.org/subscribe 🌎 A case study by Tina Ambos, Alexander Zimmermann, and Sebastian H. Fuchs (Sebastian H. F.) on the Latin American organization FUNDES, which has reinvented itself over 40 years to better serve the region’s small businesses.   🤝 Kyle Smith and Bob Fischer argue that critics of grantmaking practices and advocates of reform should support hiring more staff. 🫶 Puja Changoiwala explores the work of Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation to help people with mental illnesses in India. 🏫 Daniela Blei covers research on a teachers’ union that uses community interests to overcome polarization. Explore the full issue now! https://lnkd.in/eiBGsg_E

The Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation in India has rescued more than 10,500 mentally disabled wanderers from the streets, treated their mental health conditions, and reunited them with their families. Shraddha pursues its mission in three ways: rescue and treatment, reunion with family and/or community, and workshops to raise awareness about mental illness: “We use [the reunion] opportunities to create awareness about mental health,” says one of Shraddha’s four psychiatrists. Puja Changoiwala reports on how the foundation is fighting stigma in SSIR’s Spring 2025 Issue 🔗 https://lnkd.in/enMBKWkc

For more than four decades, the Foundation for Sustainable Development (Fundación para el Desarrollo Sostenible, or FUNDES), has been fostering sustainable economic development across Latin America through financing, education, and support for micro- and small enterprises. How did it keep delivering on its mission over the years? “It had to reinvent itself continuously,” said Andreas Eggenberg, member of FUNDES’ board and chair of MASISA, a long-term client of FUNDES. “I don’t know where we will be in 40 years, but definitely different than now, keeping the motivational spirit and curiosity to reinvent ourselves again.” In SSIR’s Spring 2025 issue’s case study, the authors Tina Ambos, Alexander Zimmermann, and Sebastian H. Fuchs (Sebastian H. F.) identify four concepts that helped FUNDES evolve while remaining true to its mission over decades: the importance of knowledge; combining purpose and profit; scalability through digitization; and institutionalizing social venturing. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ed2hDgyQ Each iteration of FUNDES came with different conditions, opportunities, and challenges, making clear that bringing about long-term impact calls for entrepreneurial leaders who possess the ability to approach entirely new market domains, the openness to embrace new stakeholder groups, and a willingness to radically change organizations and their cultures. Read more about FUNDES’s journey: https://lnkd.in/ed2hDgyQ How can civil society organizations focused on long-term goals make sure they can change while staying true to their mission? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

TOMORROW we are hosting a live webinar on impact measurement to explore: ❓ How are funders and implementers improving their measurement, evaluation, and learning strategies to boost impact? ❓What lessons have we learned from implementing measurement programs? ❓How are experts balancing the challenges and demands of impact reporting? ❓ What differences exist in measuring impact across geographic regions? Join Lisa Hehenberger of Esade, Natasha Joshi of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Mona Mourshed of Generation, 신(Shin)현상(Hyun S.) of Hanyang University, Brian San of Institute of Philanthropy tomorrow, March 26, from 9-10:30 p.m. PDT. Register to join live or watch the recording afterward: https://lnkd.in/eJKYBASB

“Breaking the conventional, capital-driven mindset—seeing through its lies and envisioning something holistic, ecological, nutritious, inclusive, and socially just instead—is perhaps the largest barrier to building a regenerative food system. But over and over, people within the movement tell me women are uniquely talented at removing the Big Ag blinders.” In an excerpt from her new book, From the Ground Up: The Women Revolutionizing Regenerative Agriculture, Stephanie Anderson explores the patriarchal roots of modern farming and highlights how women are working to shift the industry toward regenerative ag and build a more resilient food system.

To succeed, place-based neighborhood transformation must have deep roots in the community that support innovative ways to branch to outside resources. Bonton Farms outside Dallas offers a model of such work. Seth Kaplan, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, takes an in-depth look at how Bonton Farms is building strong internal bonds within a disadvantaged neighborhood and using them as bridges to critical institutions outside the neighborhood that can help strengthen the community. Compared to models like collective impact and Purpose Build Communities, Bonton Farms uniquely emphasizes community engagement and bottom-up transformation: “Bonton Farms generated much more change than is possible when nonprofits focus on service delivery in a siloed manner and have no stake in the specific locale. The farm sells or barters food to residents in the community so they eat better and get healthier. It offers neighbors who might not find jobs elsewhere opportunities to work and build their résumés.” Read more about how Bonton Farms is making change from the inside out: https://lnkd.in/eWYf3scX

“As the politicization of what should be apolitical anti-discrimination practices grows, the stakes for workers, consumers, investors, and communities have never been higher. Advancing equity—which simply means fairness—remains a superior growth model, and overlooking or restricting equitable approaches based on political or ideological agendas will limit the potential of our economy.” Tynesia Boyea-Robinson of CapEQ and Mahlet Getachew of Tynesia Boyea-Robinson PolicyLink share four strategic considerations that businesses can apply to continue to do well by doing good: “The next several years will undoubtedly bring more challenges, but they also offer an opportunity for organizations to lead with courage, resilience, and innovation. Those who do will emerge with a distinct competitive advantage for years to come.”

“While others have argued that the nonprofit sector should consider mergers and acquisitions as ‘not just an escape plan,’ our experience demonstrates that perhaps we should go even farther than that. Mergers and acquisitions should be normalized as a strategic tool for mission-driven organizations.” George Tsiatis, president and CEO of Resolution Project, led the integration of Resolution Project and Enactus Global, creating one of the largest global organizations focused on youth social entrepreneurship. In his article for SSIR, Tsiatis argues that M&A can help nonprofits achieve greater impact in the face of growing challenges to the sector. He outlines the challenges but urges the sector to think of M&A as a proactive strategy, not a last resort.

Find calm amid tumultuous times and internet chaos. SSIR shares insights on how to build a better world. The latest issue of our print magazine features: Preventing Identity-Based Violence From the Ground Up | https://lnkd.in/e3aGJbKw BONUS: Watch this conversation with two of the authors | https://lnkd.in/eSuP3fBQ Growing Community Together | https://lnkd.in/eWYf3scX Programmatic Asset Transfers as a Strategic Tool for Social Impact | https://lnkd.in/e8xFdJ7q Building for the Future | https://lnkd.in/ef48Ak9d Saving Lost Souls | https://lnkd.in/enMBKWkc Explore the full issue now: ssir.org/issue/spring_2025 Subscribe to help SSIR continue to share important ideas from nonprofit and social change leaders: ssir.org/subscribe

The massive scale of India makes philanthropic collaboration with government not just desirable but essential, especially if philanthropy’s goal is to bring about lasting change. Naghma Mulla, CEO of the EdelGive Foundation, and Neera Nundy, cofounder and partner at Dasra, share their firsthand experience collaborating with a mix of government agencies to achieve social impact: “Collaboratives offer governments structured, long-term partnerships that provide stability beyond short-term project cycles. By pooling financial and technical resources, collaboratives can ensure that policy implementation and program scaling are not dependent on a single funder or entity, making them more sustainable and aligned with government efforts.” Naghma’s and Neera’s lessons for successful funder collaboration are part of a new SSIR in-depth series, “Advancing the Impact of Collaborative Funds,” sponsored by the Gates Foundation. ⭐ Read more and follow the series now for article notifications: https://lnkd.in/edNAFKME