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do so. Tönnies then contrasted that association with Gemeinschaft, on the other hand, which occurs when people are essentially united even though they may be occasionally separate, where the ties between them, like family ties, exist whether they are advantageous or not. 23
    In terms of your community, the economic story says that you can care for the needy and create social change by taking an entrepreneurial or business-based approach to social issues. That kind of activity, called social entrepreneurship, is about trying to make markets work for people. Social entrepreneurs add value (social value in this case) by offering new products and services that are supposed to ultimately meet social needs, or by developing social programs that produce some kind of significant social return. 24 Not-for-profit organizations are told to develop revenue streams so they can make money and rely less on donations and public funding, even though critics warn that becoming business-oriented can be dangerous, that operating a not-for-profit organization as a business can undermine the organization’s social mission. 25 Even so, a report from the Kellogg Foundation notes that nonprofits “are using entrepreneurial models and language to design their services, organizations, and partnerships…There are hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of examples throughout the United States of organizations that are experimenting with enterprise or market-based approaches for solving problems. Many of these are based within traditional organizations such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, Boy and Girl Scouts, community food banks, etc.” 26
    According to the former Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director Corporate Opportunities of the Boys & Girls Club of America (B&GCA), the organization is practicing social entrepreneurship by developing “mutually beneficial” marketing alliances with corporate partners. The alliances are based on the idea that the B&GCA brand is worth something to a corporation and can help it achieve its goals. B&GCA has developed alliances with Coca-Cola worth $60 million, and alliances with JCPenney ($7 million), Circuit City ($3 million), Crest/P&G ($3.3 million), Compaq ($7.5 million), Microsoft ($100 million), The Sports Authority ($3.3 million), and others. 27
    In the economic story, traditional philanthropy doesn’t work, but if you cross charity with the principles behind venture capital, you get something even better — venture philanthropy. Venture philanthropists aren’t donors who fund grant proposals — they’re investors who invest in business plans. From this point of view, investment is more effective than charity; emerging venture philanthropists “don’t want to hear about the have-nots and the negativity associated with this dependency syndrome.” 28 Market concepts should be used to design social goods and services. Programs funded shouldn’t be evaluated at some future date — their performance should be measured, and they ought to demonstrate innovation, measurable outcomes, and tangible results. Venture philanthropists can calculate their social return on investment by quantifying things like how much income tax revenue is generated by a homeless person who gets a paying job; the higher the return, the better the investment. 29
    The economic story also tells us that venture philanthropists ought to manage the relationship between themselves and the not-for-profit organizations they invest in. They can provide management expertise as well as cash, maybe get a seat on the board, monitor the organization’s performance and make it accountable for results, then develop an exit strategy that’s based on the organization becoming self-sufficient. Research suggests, though, that the U.S. nonprofit sector’s adoption of market values and methods has weakened democracy and citizenship — weakened the ability of those organizations to create and maintain a strong civil society. The market’s