Top Social Entrepreneurs

Submitted by tyler_renelle on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 09:44

There are some awesome things happening in the world of Social Entrepreneurship! A lot of companies are saving the world and making a killing. Here are some of the top dogs to keep your eye on.

Better The World

http://www.bettertheworld.com/

A set of browser plugins and website tasks that let you raise money for free! With their shopping plug-in, a portion of your online purchases goes towards charity. With their ad-bar plugin, you can view extra internet ads which profits go to charity. Damn cool stuff!

Change.org

http://change.org

Petitions online. It hosts online communities for major social causes, and through their professional writers and nonprofit partners they have been wildly successful in soliciting policy change.

Seriously people, stop heckling passer-bys on the street.

MicroPlace

http://microplace.com

A micro-lending website, allowing users to invest in the world's working poor. Similar to Kiva; however, MicroPlace is for-profit and users get a ~3% return on their loans -- so it's more like investing than lending.

Ushahidi / MapBox

http://ushahidi.com
http://mapbox.com

Both Ushahidi and MapBox are open source mapping applications that allow users to upload custom tiles and data. When paired with their news-aggregating software (Swift River for Ushahidi, and Managing News for MapBox), they act as crisis-mapping applications which allow people on the ground to tweet or text a crisis type and location, which is then relayed to an organization that can help (like the UN). Crisis-mapping is a ground-breaking social innovation, and has saved many lives. Think of it as a "vote-up" international 911. Read more »

Changemakers

http://www.changemakers.com/

Changemakers is Ashoka's online hub for social innovation. If you have an innovative idea, or would like to be part of one, this site is where funders, social entrepreneurs, and anyone interested can collaborate on social solutions.

Samasource

http://samasource.org

Samasource provides work for developing countries and refugee camps. It connects employers providing digital tasks (web development, data-entry, etc) to people who need this work most.

Care2

http://www.care2.com

The About.com of advocacy, Care2 is a general purpose do-gooder website, with Click-to-Donate pages, advocacy communities, petitions, discussion groups, articles, and more. Read more »

Sparked

http://www.sparked.com/

Sparked is the world's first Microvolunteering network.
"Easy, social, online volunteering for busy people."

Kiva

http://www.kiva.org

Kiva combines microfinance with social networking. It's a platform which lets you lend small amounts to poor entrepreneurs to help kick-start their business. It's a combination of microfinance and social networking, allowing you to connect to your recipients.

Kiva is famous as the poster-child of social entrepreneurship, and one of the biggest breakthroughs in the field. Through micro-lending, you can "recycle" your contributions (they're loans, not donations); and you're "teaching a man to fish" by aiding in economic development, rather than through band-aid donations.

SwipeGood

https://swipegood.com/

SwipeGood rounds up all of your credit card purchases to the nearest dollar and allows you to donate the difference to the charity of your choice.


8 Comments

doGooders Rock!!

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 08:05.

It's great to see people are willing to go out of there way to help the less fortunate. Proof that the internet is not only about porn and making money but helping others in need.

Loc

Grameen Bank

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 01:29.

www.grameen-info.org/

Another social entrepreneur is the Grameen Bank which gives small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral in Bangladesh.

Michael Liggan

helloo

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/10/2010 - 21:15.

thanks for the info and explanation provided

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google, Etc...

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/07/2010 - 14:05.

Hello, thanks for the list of social entrepreneurs! When I first saw this blog-post, I thought that you were going to mention the founder's of Google, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and the like, but you didn't, LOL!

Sincerely,

Andy T. Jenkins @ Scholarships for Dads

Thank you....

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 00:26.

Thanks for sharing nice information about the world of Social Entrepreneurship. I like your post very much...Awesome post.

Don't forget Care2 (www.care2.com) - 13 million do gooders

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 20:23.

13 million do-gooder members
5 million unique monthly visitors
46 million petition signatures
Helping hundreds of nonprofits win countless grassroots advocacy victories nationally, internationally -- and in local communities
Click-to-Donate pages
The Daily Action
Butterfly Rewards program providing life-saving gifts to needy people and helping the planet
12 "Cause channels"
30 cause-focused e-alert subscriptions
5,000 tips for living a healthier, greener life
10,000 discussion groups
Making a difference for 13 years
The biggest and most trusted "social action network" on the Internet!
www.Care2.com
www.thepetitionsite.com

Unaware of this

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 05:27.

I am totally unaware of this. I am in social media field for more than 1 year,but still this happen to me.

There, added. Feel free to

Submitted by tyler_renelle on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 20:47.

There, added. Feel free to add your own social enterprises to the list ala the button at the bottom of the page. I cleaned up the description a bit and put your bullet-list on the secondary page, so the teaser looks less like an advertisement.