Social innovators can learn from each others' successes and failures. That's the idea behind Dowser's Mini Case Studies, real-world stories showing how changemakers confront practical challenges. From time to time, we'll add to the mix great studies from around the web. Here's one ...
PROBLEM: When Kim Fortunato joined Operation Warm as president in 2006, she was impressed by its vision and reach. The Pennsylvania-based organization provides new winter coats to kids who can't afford them—to keep them warm and boost their general sense of well-being. At ...
PROBLEM: Idealist is a leading online portal for social organizations, job seekers and volunteers to connect with causes, resources and employment opportunities. Despite its well-established brand and loyal user base, Idealist came close to going under earlier this year after its revenues from ...
PROBLEM: By standard measures, Rosanne Haggerty and her staff at Common Ground had achieved stunning success attacking the problem of homelessness in New York in the 1990s. Haggerty had won a massive battle converting The Times Square Hotel into the "largest permanent supportive ...
PROBLEM: On September 30, 2009, at 5:16 PM, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake ruptured the Sunda Trench, offshore from Padang, Indonesia, killing over 1,100 people and causing 250,000 families to lose housing or work. That day the Padang office of Build Change, a San ...
PROBLEM: When Abby Falik started Global Citizen Year (GCY) in 2008, the last challenge she expected to encounter was not attracting enough applicants for the organization’s program. GCY offers intense international apprenticeships to students who take a “bridge year” between high school and ...
PROBLEM: Overeager and undiscerning donors nearly hamstrung the D.C.-based recycling collective, Bikes for the World (BfW), in its infancy. International development professional Keith Oberg, had created BfW to solve two problems: The developing world lacked affordable, eco-friendly transportation, and cheap production methods had ...
PROBLEM: Seventh Generation seeks to blend purpose and profit, but when it comes to politics, the company is careful not to mix activism and business. That's a lesson that co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Hollender learned during the 1992 presidential election. Hollender believed that ...
PROBLEM: Like the youths it serves, the Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center (SMYRC) often finds itself living close to the edge. Through its 11 year history, it has had to scramble continuously to keep the money flowing and the doors open, explains project ...