That’s the message from Barney’s this year as pointed out by Mark Hurst of Good Experience. “Gorgeous green gifts, fabulously fair-trade fashion, sensationally sustainable swag, orgasmic organic denim and cashmere, environmentally conscious tchotchkes of all descriptions + philanthropic gestures to warm the cockles of your heart;” such is the marketing tact as green becomes all […]

David Kirkpatrick’s Tech Talk reviews DonorsChoose.org, a New York non-profit that has attracted lots of Silicon Valley money (Omidyar, Khosla, Filo) to support their mission of funding school projects in mostly low income areas. Comparing it to a tech startup Kirkpatrick calls it social entrepreneurship. See the video here.

It’s increasingly clear that the consumer is leading the movement toward global sustainability and will drive capital flows accordingly. The lag between consumer demand and the creation of related new capital structures is narrowing. (eg. clean tech, microfinance sectors). The rapid pace of adoption is being partially driven by viral, easily shareable media and […]

This is “Digital Ethnography” by students at Kansas State reflecting on the university educational system. While at first the video on the xigi site now pointing to how kids really learn today might seem tangential to moving capital to good, reflecting on how money is spent to prepare students for moving through life is not. […]

What would the world really look like if hybrid forms of good capital became commonplace? What new ways of acting would arise? What if we could more clearly imagine the possibilities? This thought led me to imagine what xigi might look like in Second Life (SL), the leading 3D social network where nearly 10 million residents […]

We know at times xigi can be confusing and are working to make things smoother but in the meantime, if you need help then download the xigi User Manual recently completed by our wonderful intern Sarah Choi. This manual is a step-by-step user guide on how to add data and make the most out of your […]

Giving through social networks seems to be one of the fastest growing areas of philanthropy. According to a Wall Street Journal article, “Young donors and volunteers, snubbing traditional appeals such as direct mail and phone calls, are satisfying their philanthropic urges on the Internet. They’re increasingly turning to blogs and social-networking Web sites, such as […]

If you have spare mobile phones, pagers or PDAs sitting on a shelf or in a drawer, you can recycle them through Collective Good in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. After a harrowing couple of years trying to survive financially, it looks like they are now doing well. I found this company when looking at […]

The Miliken Institute is looking for candidates to fill its research positions including Emerging Domestic Markets (Code = CAPEDM), Development Finance, (CAPDF) Energy & Environmental Finance(CAPSAV), International Finance(CAPINT), and s Financial Innovations Laboratory Manager(CAPFIL).

Successful candidate will undertake research and analysis, prepare reports, and presentations independently as well as jointly with other research analyst and senior […]

In a recent conversation with Tony Audino, a Seattle-based entrepreneur and VC friend of mine, we talked about the blended value market and its various market sectors, both old and new. At one point he said “you know you should develop a “hype curve” for this market.

Hype curves are most frequently associated with Gartner Group’s […]