Building Social Enterprises in South Africa
On June 17th I embarked on my summer internship adventure with ThinkImpact! The Washington D.C. based organization and its Innovation Institute sends college students to villages in rural Kenya and South Africa to build social enterprises. As an MBA student with a focus on sustainable management (Presidio Graduate School) I’m very interested in using social enterprise as a catalyst for development and social change. Read more »
The Importance of Purpose in a Team
Do Good Lab is made up entirely of volunteers in the Bay area who donate their time to various DGL projects in addition to their hectic everyday lives. In the midst of brainstorming new projects and fundraising ideas, we find that not only are we inspired by leaders in the non-profit world, but we are also inspired by other DGL volunteers. The following was written by one of those wonderful volunteers who helps to make it all happen.
The Difference is More than Semantics
Doing good while having fun.
Having fun while doing good.
The difference in the two statements above may seem inconsequential – we just flipped a few words around. But as we’ve discovered recently, the difference has a whole lot more significance than just semantics. Read more »
Notes from a Volunteer in Guatemala
The following is excerpted from a blog written by Do Good Lab friend Brittany Murlas in which she shares a small experience from her time with the Transitions Association of Guatemala, a Guatemalan run organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with disabilities. Read more »
Global Mental Health: Lessons from Rwanda
Access to reliable mental health services is something we in the Bay Area (and throughout the US) take for granted. There are a multitude of clinics, support groups, and schools of treatment that all seek to heal and help us in times of need. In many countries in the developing world, however, these services are limited or nonexistent. Read more »
The Halo Effect and Nonprofits
The discussion around Greg Mortenson and his organization the Central Asia Institute made me realize how many organizations that I admire are built around a charismatic leader: John Wood’s Room to Read, Jaqueline Novogratz’s Acumen Fund, and Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank. Two years ago I read Wood’s “Leaving Microsoft to Change the World”, Novogratz’s “A Blue Sweater” and of course Mortenson’s “Three Cup of Tea”. On my nightstand lays Yunus’ “Banker to the Poor”. Read more »
B1G1 Virus and the Cause Marketing Paradox
There is a rapidly spreading virus called B1G1 (no relation to the H1N1) and far from being alarmed by its spread, people are willingly getting infected in droves. I am referring to Buy One Give One (B1G1 or BOGO) which involves customers paying a premium on a product so that the company may conduct philanthropy on the customer’s behalf. In the case of B1G1, the product or service donated is typically in the same category as the original purchase that helps fund the donation. For example – a pair of shoes donated for every pair purchased. Read more »
Try Again, Fail Again, Fail Better
Lately I have been reading a lot about the value of failure in the world of philanthropy and nonprofit. Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with Nonprofit Quarterly, said of his children, “If everything they do is successful, they’re a failure… Because it means that they’re taking on things that are too easy.” Read more »
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo
At our March pow wow William Vu gave a presentation about his two years in a small village situated in the arid and dusty north of Togo as a Peace Corps Volunteer. William Vu has returned back to the U.S. and offered us a glimpse of life in this little known country. Read more »
Magic in the Form of a Starbucks Chai
$2.95. That’s how much it costs to buy the tall Chai from Starbucks that I enjoy most mornings. It brings me so much joy to breathe the spicy scent and taste the first sip. I love the warmth it brings to my insides and the way I feel ready to start my day when I’ve had that first drink. If I believed in magic, I’d believe that Starbucks Chai was my morning magic.
The other day, I received an email from Edmond, our Grapesyard project partner, giving an update on the Grapesyard children. Part of the update read, “Grapesyard children are doing well, some of our children who were transiting to secondary education have joined form 1, except 3 orphans. We are stranded with them because we have not gotten someone to sponsor them despite doing very well in their national primary examinations… The cost of educating a child in secondary is about 500 USD a year. It lasts 4 years.” Read more »