When you're working with clients, it's really good to have a point of view. 
And, to feed my own thinking, I'm reading, tons and tons of inches of reading, about how people, companies, governments and organizations are trying all kinds of approaches to solve really hard problems. I wanted to start with one aspect of social innovation that's getting a huge amount of focus: philanthropy.
When Bill and Melinda Gates started their foundation, Bill talked a lot about how giving is hard work. At least giving WELL is hard work. The problems of our world are really hard, and addressing them is not at all straightforward. Ideas are legion, execution is hard. Governments get in the way, or are AWOL or corrupt; getting on the ground and making a difference in areas where the needs are great and resources are few is logistically hard (something NetHope is trying to help with.)
Donors know this, and increasingly they really want to make sure their contributions are working. There's an explosion of activity and discussion about a new wave of philanthropy. Here are a few trends I'm seeing pop out:
Giving While Living -- Warren Buffett waited until he was 76, but the trend is different. There's a major focus on people wanting to make a difference while they're alive, not after they're gone!! Part of this has to do with demographics--both the sensibility of Gen Y'ers to integrate meaning into their lives and not postpone it, and the spirit of baby-boomers who have no intention of "getting old" in the conventional sense. Instead they want to use their later years to launch "second lives" dedicated to giving and serving. My friend David Bank (formerly of the WSJ) works at a non-profit called Civic Ventures, that's working on tapping into this trend.
Start Something -- A major trend in philanthropy is social entrepreneurship -- essentially finding leaders who are inventing new models to address problems. Ashoka.org, and the Draper-Richards Foundation give money and support to social entrepreneurs. The huge influx of wealth generated by Wall Street and high tech in the past few years has created a whole wave of social entrepreneurships and new foundations and the media are really flocking to write stories about them. Just to name a few: John Wood (Room to Read), John Sage (fair trade coffee) and Paul Shoemaker (Social Venture Partners).
The "Fun" in Fundraising -- Check out what SMASHED is doing in DC -- this is a group who spoofed the Alaskan dog sled race by sending 130 costume-clad participants racing through the streets of DC pushing shopping cart--for charity. As one of their founders said, "You can have a great time and help somebody, or you can help somebody and have a great time. It really doesn't matter what your motivation is."
The Kids are Alright -- Schools are getting actively engaged in channeling the interest of young people and creating "learning while making a difference" opportunities for them. At two ends of the spectrum are how major business schools (like Harvard or Oxford) are integrating social entrepreneurship or social change into their curriculums; or how Bridges to Understanding involves kids (using digital storytelling) in outreach to build cultural understanding and learning
Pretty interesting stuff.
This blog called Tactical Philanthropy is a good place to start if you're curious about this topic. Or if you want to get inspired and be a philanthropy leader yourself, try reading FLip to get inspired!
*What's the caveat? The conclusion one can get from listening to the philanthropy dialogue is that if you're just writing checks, you're totally missing the boat. This makes it hard for established charities, which quite frankly, have models they really believe WORK, and REALLY need the checks! So playing on Jenny's posting yesterday, if you're one of these charities, there's an aspect of this dialogue that's just BAD.
I bet you're involved in giving--what are YOU looking for?