Greg Dees
Coalition of Essential Schools
By Gregory J. Dees In May, 2000 Hudi Podolsky assumed the position of executive director of CES and needed to act quickly. CES was an early educational reform organization dedicated to widespread implementation of certain fundamental educational principles in primary and secondary schools in the United States. The main problem was that traditional sources of […]
New Profit, Inc
By James L. Heskett, J. Gregory Dees and Jaan Elias Having founded what they called a “venture philanthropy” operated like a hybrid between a venture capital fund and a philanthropy, New Profit’s organizers are confronted with two issues: 1) the role that “investors” would be asked to play in the organization, and 2) the way in […]
The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust
In February 1999, the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust (ABFT) was preparing to expand its operations outside Cape Town, South Africa. However, their plans were challenged by a strike at the Community Bakery, a mission-driven revenue generating enterprise connected to ABFT, and financial irregularities at one of their newest programs, the Parent Teacher Pupil Program. Both […]
Maitri AIDS Hospice
By Gregory J Dees and Beth Battle Anderson It’s August 2000, and Maitri AIDS Hospice in San Francisco is reevaluating its approach to fundraising. In recent years, Maitri has been relying increasingly on government, corporate, and foundation grants. Yet Don Spradlin, Maitri’s associate director for individual gifts who was hired in early 1999 to focus […]
Note on Innovations in Philanthropy
Provides a framework for thinking systematically about innovations in philanthropy. To be successful and sustainable, innovative approaches to philanthropy need to create value for donors and recipients, as well as for society. Three historical innovations in society are professional foundations, federated community campaigns, and community foundations. Even the most innovative program contains threads of the […]
Artists for Humanity
By J. Gregory Dees, Shirley Brice Heath and Laura Smyth Artists for Humanity (AFH) is a nonprofit that hires 30 to 40 teenagers each year for after-school work and training in the arts and entrepreneurship. The young artists, working in six different studios, make and sell the art they produce. AFH was started in 1990 […]
Enterprising Nonprofits
By Gregory Dees The move by non-profit organizations to raise additional funds by allowing corporate partners the commercial use of their name or reputation would likely result in the corruption of the social mission of the nonprofit organization. Several options are open for non-profits to raise additional funds including cash flow and operating expense self […]
The Challenges of Combining Social and Commercial Enterprise
By Gregory J Dees and Jaan Elias A comparison of nonprofit and for-profit business organizations at a time when business is considered the model of efficiency and innovation provides significant insights into the norms that characterize these institutions, their functions in society and the viability of combining commercial methods with social objectives. Norman E. Bowie […]
Paper: A Customer by Any Other Name
Social Entrepreneurs can create mutually beneficial relationships with their stakeholders and donors by learning from customer-oriented businesses. Specifically, three good habits social entrepreneurs can learn from customer-oriented business includes: Who Cares, March/April 1998 p 36 – 37 By Gregory J Dees Article_Dees_ACustomerByAnyOtherName_1998
Social Enterprise: An Alternative Career Choice for MBAs
By Gregory J Dees For new MBAs interested in pursuing nontraditional business careers, the social sector provides a promising and challenging alternative. For the majority of MBAs, it is more likely that they will serve the social sector on a part-time basis at some point in their careers as board members, consultants or volunteers. Even […]