Social Impact
Rebuilding Local News, One Town at a Time
Bob Rifkin ’89, president of the board of the Belmont Voice, says the nonprofit model for local news has had a palpable impact on his community—and can do the same for your town.
Can We Create Affordable Housing in the World’s Fastest-Growing Cities?
Ira Peppercorn ’85 says that creating affordable housing in the world’s fastest-growing cities requires accurate data and an incremental approach.
What Makes a Museum Successful?
Daniel Weiss ’85, president of the Met, discusses the challenges of changing with the times while preserving the past.
What Keeps the Poor from Adopting New Technology?
Yale SOM’s Mushfiq Mobarak talks with three practitioners about improving the process of technology adoption among the poor.
Can Social Innovation and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration Help Solve South Africa’s Problems?
Dr. Francois Bonnici of the University of Cape Town on navigating South Africa's turbulent social sector.
How Should Nonprofits Invest?
Sandra Urie ’85 of Cambridge Associates talks about helping clients find the right level of risk.
Balancing the Letter and the Spirit
Should organizations favor the dependable efficiency of rules and standards or a less calculated but more flexible operation that bends to accommodate individual situations? How about both?
What Does an Economist Make of the Ice Bucket Challenge?
Somehow ice and cold water have become the social media phenomenon of the summer. Millions of people have shivered and screamed while dumping buckets of ice over their own heads, and a medical charity has tens of millions of dollars raised as a result. Yale Insights spoke with Yale economist Florian Ederer to try to make sense of all of this.
Donors Give More When They Have a Sense of Belonging
Recent research, drawing on behavioral economics, suggests that donors make larger contributions to a nonprofit organization when they have a sense of active involvement in the organization's mission. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Professor Robert Shiller suggests that changes to legal and institutional structures could be powerful new tools to increase engagement and giving.
Can the B Corp Change Business?
Social enterprises seek to make profit while having a positive impact on communities. As a nascent and hybrid form of organization, social enterprises are vaguely defined. Might a certification process provide benefits for such organizations? Andrew Kassoy of the B Lab talks about the potential of the benefit corporation, or B Corp, to change the way business is done.
Does New York City Need Lincoln Center?
Performing arts organizations are contending with aging audiences and shrinking budgets, and looking for new ways to reach audiences. Yale Insights spoke with Jed Bernstein ’79, formerly a theatrical producer, as he prepared to begin his new job as president of Lincoln Center, the country’s biggest stage for classical music, opera, and dance and a pillar of New York City’s economy.
