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    • COVID-19 Business Impact Center
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      Cold Call
      A podcast featuring faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
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      • 05 Jan 2021
      • Cold Call Podcast

      Using Behavioral Science to Improve Well-Being for Social Workers

      For child and family social workers, coping with the hardships of children and parents is part of the job. But that can cause a lot of stress. Is it possible for financially constrained organizations to improve social workers’ well-being using non-cash rewards, recognition, and other strategies from behavioral science? Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans describes the experience of Chief Executive Michael Sanders’ at the UK’s What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, as he led a research program aimed at improving the morale of social workers in her case, “The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being.”  Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

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      Giving and PhilanthropyRemove Giving and Philanthropy →

      Page 1 of 17 Results
      • 26 May 2020
      • Cold Call Podcast

      Can the ‘Cummings Way’ Live On after the Founder Retires?

      Re: Christina R. Wing

      After 50 years at the helm of Cummings Properties, billionaire and philanthropist Bill Cummings is contemplating retirement. Christina R. Wing and Cummings discuss what's next for both the family business and foundation that he built. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 08 May 2020
      • In Practice

      Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On

      by Danielle Kost

      Experts from Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative offer advice to nonprofits struggling to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 09 Apr 2020
      • Research & Ideas

      How Social Entrepreneurs Can Increase Their Investment Impact

      by Rachel Layne

      Grants or investments? Philanthropic organizations have multiple funding tools available, but choosing the wrong one can dilute the benefits, according to research by Benjamin N. Roth. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 06 Nov 2019
      • Working Paper Summaries

      Why Does Business Invest in Education in Emerging Markets? Why Does It Matter?

      by Valeria Giacomin, Geoffrey Jones, and Erica Salvaj

      Drawing on 110 interviews with business leaders as part of the Creating Emerging Markets project at Harvard Business School, this paper represents the first systematic attempt to identify and compare investment in education across emerging economies, specifically in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf between the 1960s and the present day.

      • 12 Sep 2017
      • Working Paper Summaries

      The Better is the Enemy of the Good

      by Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler

      Previous research has shown that individuals’ self-serving responses to information may arise when payoff information is subjective or uncertain. This study, in the context of charitable giving, shows that individuals’ ability to respond to payoff information in a self-serving way even includes situations when information is complete and certain.

      • 24 Jul 2017
      • Research & Ideas

      People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things

      by Carmen Nobel

      People are irrationally motivated to complete arbitrary sets of tasks, donations, or purchases—and organizations can take advantage of that, according to new research by Kate Barasz, Leslie John, Elizabeth Keenan, and Michael Norton. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 03 Aug 2016
      • Research & Ideas

      Ominous Background Music Is Bad for Sharks

      by Carmen Nobel

      Experimental research reveals the influential power of music to help or hurt fundraising campaigns. Elizabeth Keenan and Andrew P. Nosal discuss how the scary music associated with sharks gives them a bad rap, which may hinder conservation efforts. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 23 Mar 2016
      • Working Paper Summaries

      Finding Excuses to Decline the Ask

      by Christine Exley & Ragan Petrie

      An online experiment by Christine L. Exley and Ragan Petrie involving 6,000 potential donors to animal-rescue charities finds a 22 percent drop in interest in donating when individuals know “the ask” is coming and have time to develop excuses for not contributing. Results imply that nonprofits have a variety of options for better adapting how they solicit funds.

      • 08 Oct 2015
      • Research & Ideas

      Four Questions Fundraisers Must be Prepared to Answer

      by Julia Hanna

      Howard H. Stevenson, a Harvard Business School expert on entrepreneurialism and himself a philanthropist, explains why people give and how fundraisers can reach them. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

      • 14 Dec 2011
      • Research & Ideas

      The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

      by Julia Hanna

      In this era of scarce economic resources, the pressure on nonprofit managers to show quantifiable results is greater than ever. Alnoor S. Ebrahim and philanthropist Mario Morino discuss the differences and similarities between performance measurement in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.

      • 09 Jul 2010
      • Working Paper Summaries

      The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance

      by Alnoor Ebrahim & V. Kasturi Rangan

      The social sector is in the midst of a search for metrics of impact. Over the past 20 years, there has been an explosion in methodologies and tools for assessing social performance and impact, but with little systematic analysis and comparison across these approaches. In this paper, HBS professors Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan provide a synthesis of the current debates and, in so doing, offer a typology and contingency framework for measuring social performance. Their contingency approach suggests that—given the varied work, aims, and capacities of social sector organizations—some organizations should be measuring long-term impacts, while others should stick to measuring shorter-term results. The researchers provide a logic for determining which kinds of measures are appropriate, as driven by the goals of the organization and its operating model. Key concepts include: With the contingency framework, organizational leaders and managers can clarify what types of results they seek to achieve, and thus for what they should be held to account. Doing so requires them to articulate a causal logic, or theory of change, that they expect will lead to long-term goals. This framework suggests that social sector organizations can increase their control over long-term societal impacts in at least two ways: by expanding their operations in order to reach a threshold population or critical mass (scale), and by offering more comprehensive services or partnering with others in order to tackle a problem (scope). It is not feasible, or even desirable, for all organizations to develop metrics at all levels on the logic chain. This contingency framework offers some general cautions about performance measurement. First, it suggests that measuring impacts makes sense under a limited set of circumstances—when an organization operates at an ecosystem level, and yet can exercise sufficient control over results to attribute impacts to its work. Second, many organizations face a double challenge of measuring performance in a variety of areas separately, while also integrating across them in order to gauge possible synergistic effects at the ecosystem level. Third, funders such as foundations, governmental departments, and international aid agencies are far better positioned than most nonprofits to measure impacts. Finally, given the diversity of actors engaged in social change, the four broad types of results in the framework should be taken as suggestive rather than as silver bullets. The very basis of the framework—contingency—suggests that there are no panaceas to results measurement in complex social contexts. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 14 Jun 2010
      • Research & Ideas

      The Hard Work of Measuring Social Impact

      by Julia Hanna

      Donors are placing nonprofits on the hot seat to measure social performance. Problem is, there is little agreement on what those metrics should be. Professor Alnoor Ebrahim on how nonprofit managers should respond. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 19 Jan 2010
      • Sharpening Your Skills

      Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

      by Staff

      The economic crisis is tapping the inner reserves of experienced leaders and introducing a new generation of managers to crisis management. These previous WK articles explore leadership, the role of the Board, the emotional needs of managers, and the risk to corporate giving programs. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 10 Sep 2009
      • Working Paper Summaries

      Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior

      by Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton & Elizabeth W. Dunn

      Helping others takes countless forms and springs from countless motivations, from deep-rooted empathy to a more calculated desire for public recognition. Social scientists have identified a host of ways in which charitable behavior can lead to benefits for the giver, whether economically via tax breaks, socially via signaling one's wealth or status, or psychologically via experiencing well-being from helping. Charitable organizations have traditionally capitalized on all of these motivations for giving, with a recently emerging focus on highlighting the mood benefits of giving—the feelings of empowerment, joy, and inspiration that giving engenders. Indeed, if giving feels good, why not advertise the benefits of "self-interested giving," allowing people to experience that good feeling while increasing contributions to charity at the same time? HBS doctoral candidate Lalin Anik, Professor Michael I. Norton, and coauthors explore whether organizations that seek to increase charitable giving by advertising the benefits of giving are making claims supported by empirical research and, most importantly, whether such claims actually increase donations. Key concepts include: Happier people give more and giving makes people happier, such that happiness and giving may operate in a positive feedback loop (with happier people giving more, getting happier, and giving even more). At the same time, charitable organizations should be concerned about the possibility of crowding out their donors' proclivity to donate in the longer term by incentivizing them (via gifts, etc.) in the short term. While offering donors monetary or material incentives for giving may undermine generosity in the long term, preliminary research suggests that advertising the emotional benefits of prosocial behavior may leave these benefits intact and might even encourage individuals to give more. Future research is needed to disentangle the possible costs and benefits of self-interested giving. The authors are actively engaging charitable organizations to conduct these studies. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 15 Sep 2008
      • Research & Ideas

      The Coming Transformation of Social Enterprise

      by Roger Thompson

      A new generation of business leaders and philanthropists is experimenting with hybrid forms of social enterprises while demanding more transparency and accountability from the organizations they are funding. Harvard Business School professor Kash Rangan discusses what he sees as a sector on the brink of transformation. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Key concepts include: Social enterprise as an entity is primarily in the business of creating social value, regardless of whether it's for-profit or nonprofit. Venture philanthropy has to come of age and reorient itself by defining what measures of social return it is looking for. Nonprofits creating for-profit enterprises could pose an unnecessary distraction. There may be some consolidation of nonprofits at the top, but the sector will be more vibrant with many new players and actors helping to facilitate the transformation. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 02 Jun 2008
      • Research & Ideas

      Spending on Happiness

      by Sarah Jane Gilbert

      Money can't buy love but it can buy happiness—as long as it's spent on someone else. Research by Michael I. Norton and colleagues looks into how and why spending on others promotes happiness. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

      • 14 Dec 1999
      • Research & Ideas

      From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as a Beta Site for Business Innovation

      by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

      U.S. companies have too often viewed the social sector as a dumping ground for their spare cash, obsolete equipment, and tired executives, but that mind-set, says HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, has hardly created lasting change. In this excerpt from an article in the Harvard Business Review, she issues a call for corporate social innovation, an approach, says Kanter, that's more R&D than it is charity. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

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