Social Enterprise: Audacious Philanthropy

  • 1 January 1970
  • Media Article
  • Publisher : Harvard Business Review
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This article argues that funders should adopt more ambitious giving principles, such as risk-taking, embracing failure, and catalyzing systemic impact. It profiles case examples where philanthropic investment in growth-stage social enterprises led to scalable change. The report encourages a shift from incremental grants to catalytic, long-term partnerships that foster innovation and sustained community benefits. The authors highlight elements of effective initiatives, including building shared understanding, setting winnable milestones, designing for scale, driving demand, and embracing course corrections.

Author(s) :

Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Abe Grindle

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Key topics

Social Justice, Philanthropy and Human Rights

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