Times are tough because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many people are unemployed but in need of help. They are long on time, skills, and experience, but short on cash. Could we fashion a social answer to this tough nut? Time banking facilitates donating your time to others and receiving assistance you need in return.
Elections may be the quintessential social good in a democracy. They are the service that helps set the policy and funding for other social goods.
Doing something good once can be easy, spontaneous, energizing. But doing good repeatedly, at scale, is crucial to creating meaningful impact.
Heavy rains and flood waters flow across the impervious surfaces of roads and parking lots. That flow pushes pollution on those surfaces–plastic bottles, cigarette butts, motor oil–into stormwater management systems. That pollution then dumps into lakes and streams. This system is how so much plastic ends up in our oceans.
The United States recently elected billionaire businessman Donald Trump as its 45th president. Trump has no prior experience in government, and campaigned in part on his business track record. Voters seemed to like that, apparently thinking that government needs to run more like a business. While government can certainly learn from business, it’s important to...Continue reading
Nonprofits often receive funding for providing a specific service, but not for the organizational infrastructure that supports the service. Running a food bank or crisis hotline is crucial work. Who is going to pay the rent, phone bill, and liability insurance needed to provide such services? Donors have historically avoided funding “overhead.” Understandably, they want...Continue reading
In a previous post I wrote about basic income, the idea that everyone in a society receives money for simple expenses such as food and housing, regardless of whether they work or not. Trends in demographics and technology are driving the idea of and need for basic income. To many in the United States, this...Continue reading
This blog is premised on our social nature and our innate sense of fairness. Those impulses lead to the design, distribution, pricing and promotion of social goods, or marketing the social good. Trends in demographics and technology are pointing to a major change in our society where there are more people than jobs. As social...Continue reading
In a recent retirement study by Transamerica, respondents of all ages said that they would need to save at least $1 million to feel secure in retirement. If we all did that, we’d be a society of millionaires. There’s a big disconnect here, though, because the survey also shows people are nowhere near on track...Continue reading
One in four Americans has no savings. At the same time, Americans collectively spend $56 billion a year on lotteries. Lottery players disproportionately are poor people. Maybe by channeling some of that lottery money and impulse to gamble, we could increase our savings rate in America, especially for low-income and low-wealth individuals. What if every...Continue reading