Yolynd Lobo*

Innovative ideas are as great a help as any in making community service initiatives successful. And many of these new concepts could be made to work in Indian conditions

Mention community service and words like commitment and dedication start flying about. Innovation barely rates a peek, if at all. But new ideas and methods are crucial to how successful the corporate sector and individuals can be when it comes to delivering community service that makes a telling difference to the lives of those it is aimed at.

Many people have been asking for more information on the relationship between innovation and community service. This article will try and provide links to initiatives happening around the world and, hopefully, these can be duplicated here in India. If readers have something to say about Indian corporate or individual efforts in the community service sphere, please write to me. We will collate what we receive for another article on this website.

	Why running a non-profit organisation is the hardest job in business? http://hbswk.hbs.edu Running a company can be a cakewalk compared with managing a non-profit organisation. In this HBS Working Knowledge interview, senior research fellow Jed Emerson, co-author of a new book on non-profit outfits, discusses the challenges faced by the community-based enterprise. By Carla Tishler, managing editor, HBS Working Knowledge.
	The Independent Sector http://www.independentsector.org The Independent Sector is a coalition of leading non-profit organisations, foundations and corporations created to generate not-for-profit initiatives, philanthropy and citizen action. It offers a vibrant site which reflects the evolving world of non-profit enterprises within both international and national frameworks.
	GuideStar http://www.guidestar.org Guidestar maintains a database of charitable organisations. Visitors to its site can look up a charity by name or generate a list of charities by type, focus, location or size. This facilitates a more effective and efficient non-profit marketplace, where donors make contributions with confidence and charities are motivated to improve their operations.
	Community Wealth http://www.communitywealth.org "Our commitment to social change demands and depends on creating new resources to support programmes that are proven to work but don't have the capacity to grow to scale," says Billy Shore, founder of Community Wealth Ventures, Inc. "Helping others design and build successful revenue-generating enterprises is the fastest way to advance the community wealth concept."

Community Service has often been looked upon as an area of ‘commitment’ and ‘dedication’. Streaks of innovation running through this sector has rarely been seen. The type of activities engaged in by the corporate sector and even by individuals are rote. Lets trying changing this . Lets bring together our competencies to serve better the less fortunate.

The introduction seems very similar to my first article but the reason I write on this topic again is because I have had a lot of people requesting me for more information on the relationship between innovation and community service.

This article will give you links of initiatives happening around the world. Lets see if we can emulate the same here in India. If any one has anything to say about our Indian corporate/individual community initiatives send me a paragraph on the same and we will collate it together for another article on this website.