I sat down for coffee the other day with Ashkon Jafari, co-founder of StudentMentor.org, to discuss his new social enterprise, an online mentor-matching site for college students nationwide. Only created a few months ago, StudentMentor.org already has more than 1,300 users. This is an astounding feat for a startup non-profit launched with no marketing or publicity – powered only by its unique concept and the interest from professionals in mentoring aspiring college students.
Despite its fast growth trajectory, StudentMentor.org has yet to sign on a corporate sponsor. Currently, the team is more focused on growing the service and perfecting the program. When I asked Ashkon why he chose to go the non-profit route with StudentMentor.org, rather than going for a Facebook or even Match.com business model, he said that he really couldn’t envision his venture any other way. It’s a service that is needed by youth in America. And he wanted to provide that service for free.
For me, it is incredibly heartening to meet with social entrepreneurs like Ashkon. The philanthropic world is radically evolving, empowering everyone from individuals to large corporations to apply their resources and creativity to generate social change.
In working with my clients in the corporate world to shape their messages and communications around philanthropic initiatives, I’ve been able to see first-hand some of the amazing innovation being done by social entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations around the world. Yet, most people don’t know what a social entrepreneur is.
Bridging the knowledge gap
There’s a big knowledge gap between an “everyday person” and the socially engrained. Many of today’s social innovations are virtually unknown outside the philanthropic community. That leaves many stories untold, and even more under-told.
At the same time, there’s interest and appetite from everyday people to get more involved in their local communities. As Baby Boomers exit the workforce there will be a huge pool of skilled workers looking for volunteer activities to engage in. Millenials looking to make their mark on the world are using the same online tools to chat with friends to create change.
Inspired by the social innovations I witnessed while on the job and off, I decided to do my part in driving social change. Providing a path to connect non-profits with average consumers, I recently launched a new social venture called CauseMarked to serve as a resource to people who want to get involved in philanthropic work but aren’t an “expert” on social causes. I hope it will serve as a launching pad to reach people who have an enthusiasm for volunteerism, philanthropy, and social causes but don’t know where to start. Call it social causes for newbies.
What is Social Innovation?
To put it simply, social innovation involves applying a unique solution to a complex social challenge. On the corporate level, social innovation is a model in which companies provide more than just funds to a non-profit or charity – instead they use their expertise, resources, and products to contribute something much more valuable.
Take HP for example, they built the technology backbone that powers mPedigree, a social enterprise founded by Bright Simmons that aims to stop drug counterfeiting in Africa. The system allows a clinic to scratch off a code on the drug packaging, text that code to a number (for free) and then get an instant response back about whether the medicine is genuine or fake. Drug counterfeiting is a huge problem – causing more than 700,000 deaths each year worldwide. HP provided Bright with a system he could never afford to buy on his own. In that way, social innovation is a much more impactful than traditional philanthropy.
PepsiCo’s program to purchase corn and sunflower crops directly from local farmers near their factories in Mexico is another example. We’re beginning to see companies transition to a social innovation model for corporate philanthropy, and I expect we’ll see more of that in the next few years.
How can you get involved?
Social innovation doesn’t just apply to large corporations. Getting involved at your local mentor center to counsel high school students in your domain expertise is a great way to contribute to your community (or you can sign on to StudentMentor.org). You can join TakePart’s Members Project – a resource for people interested in volunteering initiatives. It connects you to local programs that are looking for people to become a leader in their community. The YWCA, for example, is using TakePart’s platform to find community advocates for cell phone donations to help battered women in need.
Or you can support social entrepreneurs like the founders of DonorsChoose or StudentMentor.org. DonorsChoose is an amazing website that allows anyone to be an education philanthropist. Social media and crowdsourcing are drastically changing the philanthropic world.
The amazing thing about philanthropy today is that it much more approachable than ever before. I hope CauseMarked will be one step further in demonstrating this, and that more people can be inspired by the Ashkon’s of the world to start or join something of their own.