Social Entrepreneurship is continually growing around the world as young entrepreneurs use ingenuitive solutions to fix social ills and make our world a better place. Albina Ruiz is a real life example of this.

Albina came up with an innovative way to fix the out of control problem of trash in Peru and provide jobs for unemployed Peruvians. One of the first neighborhoods that she started working with was El Cono Norte in Lima, where 1.6 million people lived and produced over 600 metric units of trash. The city had a trash disposal system, but it was ineffective and did a poor job of collecting and disposing of the trash the residents produced. Consequently, people threw their trash on the streets and filled vacant parking lots with it, creating a very disgusting and unsanitary environment. 

     Albina had the idea to help micro-entrepreneurs start a trash collecting businesses. These entrepreneurs started by going door to door, collecting people’s trash and charging a small fee for their work. The new business owners would also educate people about sanitary habits and why it is important to dispose of trash properly. Some of the entrepr

     Because of Albina’s efforts many young Peruvian women now have a job and the giant trash epidemic in Peru is being resolved.  Albina’s trash collecting businesses are now in 20 cities around Peru and Albina has been asked to come up with a national plan of trash removal for her country. Thanks to Albina’s recognition of a need and her willingness to provide a solution, many unemployed people now have jobs and the trash problem in Peru is declining. When I hear stories like Albina’s it gives me courage and inspiration to make a difference right where I am. I hope it does the same for you.eneurs made extra money by creating organic fertilizers or other products out of the trash.

You can visit Ciudad Saludable, Albina’s website here. 

Before you continue reading, pause and guess how much money was raised worldwide by crowdfunding in 2012.  For real, stop and think before you continue.  I’m guessing $2.7 billion was not your guess.  This was an 81% increase from what was raised the previous year, and projections for 2013 lie around $5.1 billion.  Most of this came from North America and Europe, where I thought philanthropists were a dying breed.  Only 45% of this $2.7 billion was to be paid back to lenders in money or product.

It turns out that there are three main types of crowdfunding: donation-based, lending-based, and equity-based. Equity-based?  Yes, equity-based; it means investors receive a share of the company in exchange for funds.  Last year it was the smallest sector of crowdfunding, at a meager $116 million.  But this trend is changing.  Thanks to changing Securities and Exchange rules in the U.S., entrepreneurs will be able to more easily sell equity in their companies to non-accredited investors.

What are the applications for entrepreneurs, aside from the obvious fact that people are increasingly standing behind what they believe in with their money?  Entrepreneur Magazine reports that communities will increasingly use crowdfunding to support innovative entrepreneurs who are involved in solving complex, social problems.  These crowdfunding communities will be increasingly localized, supporting community members in their endeavors to make a difference in the area.  And finally, women stand to capture more investment dollars as investors prefer to more personally understand who they are backing; women are typically more active on social media, and more collaborative when they invest.

No matter the type of crowdfunding, no serious entrepreneur should ignore it as a viable funding option.  Thanks to modern technology, anyone can succeed with a business; the only start-up required is a dream and a little persistence.

It’s hard to count all of the valiant causes I’ve had the opportunity to support over the years–from 5ks to post-disaster help, to outreach in undeveloped countries, to joining the fight for human freedom. I only wish I had the money to contribute in enough of a way as to make a difference in each and every one of these missions. What if there was a way that we could afford to contribute to all of these causes in a meaningful, yet still reasonably cost-effective way. Introducing Philanthroper.com. Begun by young visionary Mark Wilson, Philanthroper answered this dilemma. Every day, the site featured a new nonprofit from six different categories: arts, education, animals, environment, human rights, and health. Site visitors had a $1 max spending limit per day. Though this seems like an extreme limitation, the site’s $1 rule actually encouraged more philanthropic spending, since it was so reasonable and so easy, with a one-click payment system.  Additionally, the site offered free promotion to hundreds of nonprofits in all spheres of charitable work. This adaptation and reversal of Groupon’s easy, daily-deal system was brilliant, to say the least.

So if the idea is so amazing, why is this description written in the past tense? A little more than a year after its launch, Philanthroper went up for sale. Founder Mark Wilson found himself overcommitted and underfunded. Unfortunately, no one saw fit to accept the challenge and pick up the torch, so the life of this brilliant idea found itself cut short. For some reason this story saddens me. This idea had so much potential. Is there a chance to revive the vision?

No doubt most of us have bought, sold, or at least surfed the addicting abyss of junk and jewels known as “Craigslist.” Sure, we’re all familiar with the amazing market space that has been created by San Francisco-based computer nerd, Craig Newmark. But what does this entrepreneurial programming nerd do in his spare time?

In March of 2011, Craig Newmark decided that—although his online bazaar, Craigslist, has reached over 50 participating countries—he wanted to make a real impact. To accomplish this task, Newmark launched his new website Craigconnects.org, a hub in which he hopes to connect those who are using technology for the common good, and through which he hopes to make a real difference in the world.

Craigconnects targets 7 primary areas:
1. Supporting military families and veterans
2. Support and promotion of old-fashioned, honest journalism
3. Public Diplomacy: expansion of and training in proper internet usage in underprivileged areas
4. Government: Helping to improve government agencies improve their efficiency to “improve return on the taxpayer dollar.”
5. Consumer protection: working with banks and government agencies to partner with Consumer Reports for the purpose of improving these companies’ customer service.
6. Technology for the Common Good:  supporting  microenterprises and provision of internet to underserviced areas. Also support of nonprofit rating services that help to provide potential partners to the most effective, honest nonprofits.
7. Voter Protection: supporting organizations working to protect Americans’ right to vote.

Newmark also posts regularly on his site, and hosts guest writers who have input into one or more of these target areas.

This successful programming nerd set out to create a center for connecting technologically-minded people in their desires to make a positive impact on their world. It will be interesting to see the success of this site in fostering such visionary relationships.
Craigconnects’ mission statement is easily summed up in their website tagline:

“Craigconnects: using technology to give the voiceless a real voice and the powerless real power.”

A seemingly irreconcilable combination: business and social action. For a long time, popular opinion has labeled money-making incompatible with charity work. How can a philanthropist make a social difference in underdeveloped, underprivileged areas while still maintaining a profitable business?

In an article entitled “Better Living through Business,” published in the February 2013 edition of Entrepreneur magazine, Michelle Goodman insists that it is, in fact, possible to be a social-impact entrepreneur. The evolving mindset that philanthropically-minded entrepreneurs are adapting is captured in this simple summary statement made by social entrepreneur Peter Scott: “There’s this whole new thing happening where people want to do social good, and they’re recognizing the limitations of just straight charity.”

Goodman lays out the necessary considerations for merging social enterprises with good business sense.
Firstly, entrepreneurs must recognize the importance of making a profit to maintain the program they are hoping to develop—no matter how moving the cause may be, eventually charitable donations will wane.
If one hopes to make a lasting impact, one must ensure the sustainability of the endeavor.

Secondly, in seeking investment for one’s business, the entrepreneur must be more intentional in his search. Investors must share more than their money: they must also share a passion for the cause you are pitching.

Finally, entrepreneurs must be strategic in the way they pitch their concepts to investors. Interestingly enough, Goodman warns against defining oneself as a social entrepreneur. This is in response to the popular misconception that it is impossible for a social-impact business to make money—by defining oneself as a social effort, one runs the risk of losing investor interest. Instead, one should first sell investors on the business model, then present the business’s unique purpose, using the collected data and success stories to validate this mission.

Overall, Goodman’s argument clearly supports and encourages the social-impact entrepreneurs in his quest to make a difference while still making a profit. The long-held belief in the impossibility of this mission is a myth being crushed daily by success stories of social entrepreneurs who have striven to penetrate the third world with impactful innovations and business start-ups.

No matter what the Univerity of Phoenix or Strayer commercials say, academia has always attached a negative stigma to online education. But Coursera, recently crowned last year’s best new startup by TechCrunch, is slowly changing that perception.

According to its website, Coursera is a social entrepreneurship venture that offers high quality online college courses from high quality universities for free. Thirty-three reputable schools from around the globe have joined with Coursera to provide this service, including the likes of Stanford, Brown, Princeton, Duke, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Melbourne.

Five of Coursera’s courses have recently been approved by the American Council on Education, which represents another huge step towards the legitimacy of online education. This approval means that students who have taken these courses can use them as credits when transferring towards a brick-and-mortar university.

The implications of this online venture’s success are enormous. Coursera provides financially challenged college students the opportunity to take Ivy League-level classes online without having to either get accepted into an Ivy League university or paying Ivy League tuition.

If Coursera continues its trend towards success, it would be safe to say that higher level education will be drastically changed forever. The increased access to previously unattainable classes might change the college landscape in ways we have never seen.

Of course, anyone who has had the blessing to go to college would say that there is much more to school than just the classes, and that a collection of online classes could never possibly encapsulate the entire college experience or even a complete college education. But still, Coursera represents a huge shift that is also being seen in other areas of society in the past few years: the shift towards the internet. This internet business’ success or failure over the next several years will have an important role in the future of academia.