Philanthropy and Enterprise: Harnessing the Power of Business and Social Entrepreneurship for Development

Abstract

More than two hundred years after Adam Smith penned these words, his wisdom on this matter is being challenged by social entrepreneurs and enterprising philanthropists who are deliberately using business ventures to serve the public good. George Soros candidly describes his own change of heart on this matter: “Where I have modified my stance is with regard to social entrepreneurship. I used to be negative toward it because of my innate aversion to mixing business with philanthropy. Experience has taught me that I was wrong. As a philanthropist, I saw a number of successful social enterprises, and I became engaged in some of them.” The idea of using business in strategic ways to promote social improvements is not new. Many philanthropists have made grants and program-related investments to business enterprises that serve their philanthropic missions, including investments in organizations that take the legal form of a for-profit venture. Without this philanthropic support, microfinance, for instance, would not have grown nearly as