On 1 January 1999, Travis Gale (aged 17) and Stephen Bonaconsa (aged 27) left Johannesburg on a mission to cycle across four continents and raise R1 million for children living with, and affected by HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal. They pedalled out of Johannesburg, riding mountain bikes equipped with panniers, carrying the basic requirements for an adventure. They rode unsupported. No Instagram or Facebook. It was just the two of them and the open road. The pair successfully cycled over 16 000 kilometres, across four continents, through 16 countries, raising R1.7 million for their cause.

When asked to share about his experience, Travis very rarely spends time talking about the start or the finish of the tour. The stories Travis shares are from The Middle. It’s The Middle that tests us with challenges, yielding a multitude of emotions. It’s The Middle that involves the raw and often painful need to dig deep, to push through the barriers that stand in our way, and show ourselves what we are capable of. The Middle is what we, as human beings, were designed for. We can all pitch up at start lines. We can all celebrate a finish. But no finish is without a Middle and every Middle is where WHO WE ARE is revealed.

This book, The Middle, includes eight stories, drawn from eight key days of a world cycle tour, which will encourage and equip people through The Middle; the territory we must navigate in pursuit of our goals.

Social entrepreneurship is growing and is at the top of the UK government's agenda for improving the provision of welfare services to individuals and communities. This book introduces students and practitioners to the current policy context of UK social entrepreneurship and the focus on those skills practitioners need to initiate, to develop, and to run enterprises in this field. It is first text to bring together the different insights of academics and practitioners of social entrepreneurship. It shows how to identify community need, to work in partnership with the intended recipients of a service, to finance enterprises, and to manage organizations through their various developmental stages. The book provides readers with the ability to reflect on how these key skills operate in the real world by the presentation of case studies from the UK, the US, China, and India.

Despite the tens of billions spent each year in international aid, some of the most promising and exciting social innovations and businesses have come about by chance. Many of the people behind them did not consciously set out to solve anything, but they did. Welcome to the world of the reluctant innovator. "This important, timely book gives the reader an invaluable insight into the workings of the world of social entrepreneurship. It is a must-read for students, practitioners, policymakers and anyone with a passing interest in how to work for the greater good." Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder of the World Economic Forum and Co-Founder of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship "This book's vivid, engaging stories - of ordinary people who have devoted their lives to solving problems and injustices they never expected to encounter - make a major contribution to understanding what social innovation is all about. This is an inspiring and essential read for everyone who cares about our flawed, messy, beautiful world and believes in its myriad possibilities." Hannah Bloch, Mission Projects Editor, National Geographic magazine "Ken Banks, whose career has taken him from offshore banking to launching a brilliant communications tool for Africa, takes us on a social innovation journey. We meet ten entrepreneurs who happened on life-changing ideas - from solar lighting for African maternity wards to film subtitles to promote literacy in India - and then fought against every kind of obstacle to make them happen. Inspiring and instructive." Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC Technology Correspondent Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, devotes himself to the application of mobile technology for positive social and environmental change in the developing world. He is a PopTech Fellow, a Tech Awards Laureate, an Ashoka Fellow and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and has been internationally recognised for his technology-based work.

Charities in Britain contribute over GBP40 billion to the economy. More than a million people serve as trustees in a wide range of not-for-profit organisations. Yet there are almost no books to help them perform this important task. In this book, the author brings a fresh perspective to the role of trustee. He provides a range of practical advice to help and guide you to become a successful and confident trustee, including tips on developing strategy, handling governance issues, forming good communications and ensuring you are informed about what is happening within the charity. There are chapters on finance and on handling fraud. Written in a jargon-free style, it should become the go-to book for those who want to put their skills to use serving as a trustee in a not-for-profit organisation.

Economics for Nonprofit Managers and Social Entrepreneurs updates the world's first textbook in nonprofit economics, and shows how economics contributes to better managerial decisions on social matters. A pioneering textbook for nonprofit and social managers, this second edition adds risk analysis, game theory, and behavioral economics to the managerial tool kit, along with analysis at the margin, opportunity cost, elasticity of demand and supply, market power, and cost-benefit analysis, with numerous timely examples. This text is essential for nonprofit managers and social entrepreneurs, and of interest to all economics students.

Opening novel avenues of knowledge in the study of African philanthropy and development, this incisive book provides a critical assessment of philanthropic responses during crisis and non-crisis periods. It explores how collaboration between multilateral institutions and philanthropic organisations during a crisis can be harnessed and replicated to address the continent's developmental challenges during non-crisis periods. Combining empirical insights with cutting edge theory, this forward-thinking book investigates the activities of high-net worth individuals, foundations, and corporate actors working with governments to create shared value. Through individual case studies and comparative analyses across diverse sectors and geographies, chapters demonstrate how shared value is crucial to building resilience in societies through philanthropy. The book ultimately makes a call for deeper and more meaningful forms of collaboration among the key actors in society: governments, the private sector, high-net worth individuals, and multilateral institutions. This highly innovative book will be an essential resource for researchers and academics interested in development studies, the sociology of organisations, and social policy in developing countries. Its empirical grounding will also inform policy responses in crisis and non-crisis periods.

Economics for Nonprofit Managers and Social Entrepreneurs updates the world's first textbook in nonprofit economics, and shows how economics contributes to better managerial decisions on social matters. A pioneering textbook for nonprofit and social managers, this second edition adds risk analysis, game theory, and behavioral economics to the managerial tool kit, along with analysis at the margin, opportunity cost, elasticity of demand and supply, market power, and cost-benefit analysis, with numerous timely examples. This text is essential for nonprofit managers and social entrepreneurs, and of interest to all economics students.

Medicine and Money: A Study of the Role of Beneficence in Health Care Cost Containment is a frank discussion of the moral problems associated with the need to control health care costs. The book provides a base for physicians to address these concerns and examines the events leading to America's current health care crisis, diminishing beneficence. After a brief definition of the problem, Frank H. Marsh and Mark Yarborough continue by describing the threat of cost containment and justifying beneficence-based health care system. Special importance is given to Medicine and Money by the lengthy suggestions on implementing beneficence in the health care system. Marsh and Yarborough address the problem of eroding morality and rising cost concerns of our present health care system. They argue that if the central role of beneficence is abandoned, the medical profession will be unable to properly meet the challenge it faces. Medicine and Money divides its argument into two sections. In the first section, the current crisis in health care is examined and a justification for beneficence is given. The second section describes how beneficence can be implemented in the health care system as a means to control health care costs. Medicine and Money is written for every member of the medical and philosophical communities.

Between the Mountain and the Sky shows us the goodness that is possible when a single person--regardless of age--takes action to help another and, in the process, changes the lives of hundreds. Maggie's story begins in suburban New Jersey, in a comfortable middle-class family that supports her decision to travel the world during a gap year before starting college. During her travels, the trajectory of her life alters when she has a surprise encounter with a Nepali girl breaking rocks in a quarry. Maggie decides to invest her life savings of five thousand dollars to buy a piece of land and open a children's home in Nepal. That home becomes Kopila Valley Children's Home, and eventually, the nonprofit Maggie launches, the BlinkNow Foundation, also starts the Kopila Valley School, which provides tuition-free education for more than four hundred students. Maggie and BlinkNow's work have been recognized around the world for their innovative, sustainable work. However, this book isn't a how-to for fledging philanthropists or nonprofit founders--it's a coming-of-age story about a young woman suspended between two worlds, as well as the love, loss, healing, and hope she experiences along the way. And Maggie's inspiring, intimate tale shows readers an important truth: the power to change the world exists within all of us.

Calling all change-makers! Open your mind, and buckle up for a bumpy ride through a truth-telling journey about the dysfunctional relationship between foundations and non-profits. We all know that its broken. So why haven't we fixed it? Enter the Unicorns. Join unicorns Jane Leu, Vu Le, and Jessamyn Shams-Lau for a nitty-gritty, inside look at how foundations and non-profits relate today, and why we're stuck in the status quo. Next, get ready for a rocket-ship ride to a future filled with EPIC Partnerships grounded in equality, trust, and creativity; partnerships to help us think bigger, bolder, and better about social change. Finally, make it happen! Roll up your sleeves and dive into a series of fun and thought-provoking exercises for you to do and discuss with your team, your partners, and your board. This is a whimsical journey through a challenging conversation that could hold the key to slaying the dragons of injustice and inequity once and for all.

Wouldn't charity governance be so much easier if it wasn't for all of your fellow trustees? Being knowledgeable and experienced as a trustee is important, but having the ability to interact effectively with your fellow board members, that is where good governance really starts. Get it wrong and, very quickly, you've got a battle on the board. Working in sustained harmony towards a common goal can be a tall order for many trustees. Debra Allcock Tyler's approach to this challenging subject is characteristically engaging as she adopts a different ABBA tune as the theme for each chapter. Frank and with real-life examples firmly to the fore, she mixes leadership theory with practical advice delivered straight from the shoulder. It includes: * Understanding the trustee role * Working with fellow trustees and the CEO * Compliance and regulation * Dealing with information and understanding the money * The psychology of decision-making * Managing risk and handling crisis So, if you are a trustee or about to become one, you will benefit from the insights and hard-won wisdom distilled in this book. If you want to be the dancing queen (or king) of good governance and avoid a waterloo for your charity, then this book is for you.

Just days after September 11, 2001, Kenneth Feinberg was appointed to administer the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, a unique, unprecedented fund established by Congress to compensate families who lost a loved one on 9/11 and survivors who were physically injured in the attacks. Those who participated in the Fund were required to waive their right to sue the airlines involved in the attacks, as well as other potentially responsible entities. When the program was launched, many families criticized it as a brazen, tight-fisted attempt to protect the airlines from lawsuits. The Fund was also attacked as attempting to put insulting dollar values on the lives of lost loved ones. The families were in pain. And they were angry. Over the course of the next three years, Feinberg spent almost all of his time meeting with the families, convincing them of the generosity and compassion of the program, and calculating appropriate awards for each and every claim. The Fund proved to be a dramatic success with over 97% of eligible families participating. It also provided important lessons for Feinberg, who became the filter, the arbitrator, and the target of family suffering. Feinberg learned about the enduring power of family grief, love, fear, faith, frustration, and courage. Most importantly, he learned that no check, no matter how large, could make the families and victims of 9/11 whole again.