Asian Philanthropy Forum

Social entrepreneur search widgets

Social entrepreneurs that are doing great work can be difficult to find. After finding them, donors must complete a time consuming and, sometimes expensive, due diligence on the entrepreneur and social and business model before funding them. If a tool existed that allowed other donors and funders to search for vetted social entrepreneurs doing great work in a particular region and on a specific issue, it would save donors time and money. In addition, the listed social entrepreneurs would have greater exposure to funding sources and perhaps find other social entrepreneurs they could collaborate with.

Social Edge launched the Social Entrepreneur Search widgets this week. In collaboration with funders who are known for their successful efforts in finding, researching, and funding social entrepreneurs, they have populated an open source database that shares the information of social entrepreneurs that they have funded to anyone that wants to access it. The open source database allows anyone to query, syndicate, or republish the data on their websites. 

There are many opportunities with this new tool: (1) emerging social entrepreneurs can find others to collaborate with; (2) donors or funders can feature their own grantees so others can help the social entrepreneur scale their work; (3) donors or funders can assume that the social entrepreneur must be doing something right if they have passed due diligence by another donor or funder; (4) the database reduces the time and cost of funders or donors completing their own due diligence efforts; and (5) journalists and writers can locate a social entrepreneur quickly if they wish to feature them in their work.

Since it is an open database, Social Edge also lists many opportunities to improve it, including possible expansion of the listing and encouraging other developers to add layers to the data.

While I believe in the sharing of information and investing in the "best of the best" social entrepreneurs, I am afraid a tool like this will continuously support those already doing great work and leave other emerging and new social entrepreneurs to struggle for funding and recognition. In addition, the database is populated with social entrepreneurs from five funders (Civic Ventures, Draper Richards Foundation, PopTech, Schwab Foundation for Entrepreneurship, and Skoll Foundation). All five funders have their own unique set of criteria and focus on selecting social entrepreneurs that they support. Their due diligence process is also unique to their own criteria. This inconsistency still requires prospective donors and funders to complete their own due diligence. Perhaps the idea is that if a large funder supported the social entrepreneur then the social entrepreneur is "endorsed" or "validated" to some degree.

There are many social entrepreneurs located in Asia in the database but certainly not enough. Perhaps we can encourage other donors and funders to join in the expansion of the database to include not just vetted social entrepreneurs but also unknown, vetted social entrepreneurs with promising social and business models.

Greatest needs: Supporting education in rural China

Every month, Give2Asia features a project that requires immediate funding in their Greatest Needs catalogue. These projects have been vetted by Give2Asia and then broken into scalabe sizes for donors to invest in. The purpose is to showcase needs in the region, highlight the work that local, on the ground, organizations are doing and then provide a mechanism for those that choose to act. 

Supporting Education in Rural China

Partner: Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation

Budget: $60,045

THE CHALLENGE. Despite recent economic advancements, the income and education gap between rural and urban regions of China remain vast. According to Stanford University’s Rural Education Action Project (REAP), urban incomes are three times higher than rural incomes. In addition, more than 70 percent of students from urban areas enroll in higher education as opposed to less than five percent of students from poor rural regions. Closing the academic achievement gap and providing equal educational opportunities for poor rural students are goals integral to alleviating the economic disparity in China. Current challenges to success include a shortage in teachers, lack of effective teacher education, and ineffective educational infrastructure in rural areas, especially western China. 

THE GOAL. Improve education in Gansu Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region by placing 25 teachers in three poorly staffed schools for one year. 

THE SOLUTION. The Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation (BWSF) has been operating its Long-Term Volunteer Teaching Support Program since June 2008. The program provides a platform for qualified teachers to support rural education development by volunteering their time and lending their expertise to public schools in western China. In the next three years, BWSF seeks to establish long-term partnerships with three school districts in Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. This project will recruit and place 25 long-term volunteer teachers for one-year placements in the partner schools. $65,045 is needed to fund this project. 

ABOUT BWSF.  BWSF is a China-based non-profit organization with a mission to improve rural education and community development in western China. The organization was inspired by the extensive research of its founder, Shang Lifu. Shang’s research resulted in the founding of Western Sunshine Action in 2003. By the following year, it had recruited 135 volunteers to work in ten provinces, cities and autonomous regions. In May 2006 with the financial support of the Shanghai New Lian Kang Investment and Consultation Co., Ltd, the organization formally transitioned to the name Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation.

For more information, please visit the Greatest Needs Catalogue

See Your Impact

- by Andy Ho

Asian American philanthropist Scott Oki, a retired Microsoft executive, was recently featured in an article discussing his new venture that would connect donors to causes, and use mobile phones as a means to capture photos and videos to show how the donation is working.  In a recent blog, Save the world using your cell phone, fellow blogger, Dien had asked: How great would it be for grantees to instantly capture a life changing event of a beneficiary and then send it to the donor? It seems as Scott was one step ahead of her.

The venture, called SeeYourImpact, enables a donor to give a small amount, and be able to see how the money is used in the life of a real person.  Oki's hope is that 'everyone can be philanthropic, and can organize themselves around issues they care about."

For $13, donors can purchase a basic electrical toolkit to enable a student to start doing electrical work.  On the SeeYourImpact site, the donor, Suzanne provided funds to R. Madana Kamaraj , son of Mr. Renganathan, a hotel server and Ms. Shakuntala, house wife. He has a younger brother doing 7th standard and a sister studying in 5th standard. He is the eldest son of his family. This boy is coming from Thiruvaikavur near Swamimalai, Kumbakonam. This tool kit will be very helpful for him. Thank you Ms. Suzanne!  Madana on completion of his training will keep this kit and use it to earn his living as a welder.

Greatest Needs: Protecting communities from the spread of tuberculosis in Burma

Every six months, Give2Asia features several projects that require immediate funding in their Greatest Needs catalogue.  These projects have been vetted by Give2Asia and then broken into scalabe sizes for donors to invest in.  The purpose is to showcase needs in the region, highlight the work that local, on the ground, organizations are doing and then provide a mechanism for those that choose to act. 

Partner: Metta Development Foundation. 

Cost: $55,000 creates 5 new TB centers and helps treat and educate hundreds who are infected or at risk.

The Challenge.  Burma has one of the highest prevalence rates of tuberculosis (TB) in the world with an estimated 1.5% of the population becoming infected each year. Of the 120,000 case that are identified, a high percentage are among those living with HIV/AIDS due to their compromised immune systems.  Lack of education and awareness has also resulted in misuse of TB drugs, which leads to increased prevalence of drug-resistant strains of TB. The Director General of the World Health Organization has identified drug-resistant TB in Burma as an “explosive situation.”

Kachin State, one of Burma’s most rural and remote areas, survives primarily on mining and logging. Because of its rich natural resources, Kachin attracts economic migrants from other areas of Burma looking for work. Mining camps and migrant traffic make Kachin a high risk area for both TB and HIV/AIDS. Lack of awareness about TB is compounded by illegal drug use and sex work. In 2008, the number of deaths in the area doubled for people co-infected with HIV and TB.

Greatest Needs: Preventing children from living on the streets in Laos

Every six months, Give2Asia features several projects that require immediate funding in their Greatest Needs catalogue.  These projects have been vetted by Give2Asia and then broken into scalabe sizes for donors to invest in.  The purpose is to showcase needs in the region, highlight the work that local, on the ground, organizations are doing and then provide a mechanism for those that choose to act. 

Partner: Friends-International  (Peuan Mit in Laotian)

Cost: $55,000 gives 1,000 children access to education, health care, and family services that protect them from living on the streets.

The Challenge.  On any given day an estimated 600 children live and work on the streets of Vientiane. Street children survive primarily by scavenging, begging and sex work. These children are often deprived of an education because of pressure to earn an income for their survival and, in some cases, the survival of their families. Children living on the street are highly susceptible to substance abuse, violence, HIV/AIDS and human trafficking.

The Goal.  To create lasting social change by ensuring access to education for children and youth at risk of entering street life. To sustain this change through holistic support services for their families.

Greatest Needs: Empowering Delhi's trash-picking community

Every six months, Give2Asia features several projects that require immediate funding in their Greatest Needs catalogue.  These projects have been vetted by Give2Asia and then broken into scalabe sizes for donors to invest in.  The purpose is to showcase needs in the region, highlight the work that local, on the ground, organizations are doing and then provide a mechanism for those that choose to act.  I will share some of these projects in the next three posts.

Partner: Chintan Environmental Research & Action Group

Cost: $5,000 provides education for 40 child trash pickers in Delhi; $52,000 trains 8,000 leaders in the trash-picker community

The Challenge.  300,000 of Delhi’s inhabitants make a living retrieving recyclable trash, collecting 1,000 tons of waste on a daily basis. While trash-picking is treated as one of the most lowly occupations in urban India, trash-pickers are also responsible for recycling nearly 20% of Delhi’s trash, which would otherwise go to landfills. With growing development and consumption in India, it is estimated that Delhi will generate 20,000 tons of waste daily by 2020. Supporting this large group of trash recyclers in India’s largest city is an important strategy to tackle both poverty and environmental degradation.

The Solution.  This project will help to organize and protect Delhi’s trash-picker community in a number of ways that help them gain respect in the community, while also creating opportunities for their children to gain an education and escape poverty.