Better to share or to give?

#ReCodeGood CharretteJanuary 24, 2012

Stanford UniversityCenter on Philanthropy and Civil Society

OLD

Private resources for public good

=Philanthropy and

nonprofits

NOW

Private resources for public good

=Sharing, investing, social

businesses, consumer behavior, open source, networks, open data,

(giving + volunteering)

The Social Economy

SharingInvestingSocial businesses Consumer behaviorOpen sourceNetworksOpen dataVolunteering

The Five Questions for the PPT• What will the Citizens United decision mean for nonprofits,

philanthropy, and the public good?• How is digital technology changing our conception of public

accountability and public goods?• How will big data, the sharing economy, and open government

influence philanthropy?• How can we better align our regulatory frames for public good

with the technological innovations being made in bioscience, data processing, and other rapidly advancing fields?

• What is the 21st century policy frame we need to encourage the private and public resources to help address our global challenges?

Sharing Economy

Then Now

Car sharing, co-housing, peer-to-peer lending,

clothing swaps, urban fruit swaps,

Twitter, co-working spaces,

bike-sharing, etc., etc..

Mesh NetworkUS Nonprofits

Source: http://meshing.it/.

Source: Lucy Bernholz, Blueprint 2012

Public benefit? Input or outputStructure Market Focus

Peer to Peer Biz to consumer

Commercial RelayRides ZipCar

Nonprofit CityCarShare

Where’s the public good?

Policy Questions

• Is sharing a middle class phenomenon? What, if anything, is it doing/can it do for low-income communities?

• Are there policy limitations or barriers to sharing platforms, nonprofits and philanthropy working together?

• Are there ways that expanded sharing platforms accelerate philanthropic goals?

Policy Question 1

When it comes to private resources/public goods, is the sharing economy the same as “double bottom line” companies or are there additional public benefits?

If there is something else, what is it and what “should” we be doing with it?

Policy Question 2

The blending of social goals and sustainable revenue led to the creation of B Corporations and other hybrid enterprise structures.

Does the rise of sharing portend a similar development? What might that look like?

Policy Question 3

All of these sharing sites rely on technology and data about their users. Many business pundits have noted that “Data are the future.”

What are the policy implications or possibilities of data and public good from these sharing companies?

Your Policy Questions (and answers)