That’s the general gist of any child sponsorship program – do some good, adopt a child, and now that child can live life. There’s a story, there’s a face, and a dire circumstance – who wouldn’t want to give? But how effective is this in solving the situation really?

Take, for example, a program out here in Cambodia who offered $15 to individual drop-outs to get back into school. Noble goal, but the net result was that more kids dropped out. Why? Because they wanted the $15.

First, there’s the ethical issue of individual sponsorship. Should a child be so publically exposed along with their struggling situation? How fair is that to the child? And where do you draw the ethical line for a child to feel “entitled” to a donor half-a-world away?

Second, there’s the logistical issue. A child is rarely an isolated incident and is more likely to be amongst a group of children in a poverty-ridden community. Should one child receive the benefit over another? If he or she does receive surplus treatment, what about the jealousy factor among peers? And if not, then wouldn’t that make child sponsorship artificial – advertising that your dollar is helping one child, but in reality, the money is distributed?

One mission head of a development agency in Cambodia aptly summed it up: “Individual sponsorship is not development”.

Indeed, development projects that are systematically monitored are often the best remedy to a child’s circumstance. But here’s the big but– projects don’t sell as well as a story and a face. Projects sorely lack that human touch.

Here’s some food for thought: How does one balance the need to raise funds by tugging heartstrings, while also being true to the programs that best help?

Sao Sary Foundation (www.ssfcambodia.org)

Prevention is the most cost-effective solution to any problem, and SSF’s foray into fighting human-trafficking is no exception to this rule. Focused on prevention rather than intervention, SSF works with rural families up close to identify and reduce the risk of having their child trafficked through a combination of education and income generating activities.

Future Cambodia Fund (www.futurecambodiafund.org)

Building a sense of home to a community who has no home, FCF works at the Andong site and serves a community of people numbering well into the thousands who have been forcibly evicted from their prior dwellings. Established the “Happy Garden Centre” to connect this displaced group, FCF runs several projects to educate the children, train the women in water sanitation, health and hygiene, and runs an emergency program to assist those who are victimized or in life-threatening health.

Changiville (www.changiville.com)

A guesthouse, but more than a guesthouse. Changiville uses their quarters as a training ground for girls from the neighboring slums in Phnom Penh. Whether it’s English, computers, cooking, or customer service, Changiville is teaching these girls how to take matters into their own hand. Eventually, says co-founder William Chua, these girls will wield the skills to develop a franchise and run this business all on their own.

Aide et Accion (www.aide-et-action.org)

Every team needs a big player, and Aide et Accion is just that organization to be that critical link. By partnering with several local organizations, channeling funds into their projects, and monitoring their impact, Aide et Accion is ensuring that quality education is in fact reaching the local populace and that each and every one of those barriers impeding Cambodia’s progress is being lifted.

Riverkids (www.riverkidsproject.org)

Child trafficking is ugly, and many victimized communities have lost their trust with outsiders. This puts Riverkids in a unique position to work with these communities. After six years of building ties, Riverkids tirelessly prevents the sale of countless of children and finds alternative labor for these families to boost their socio-economic status. The extra dance and English classes they run onsite is a testament to their commitment to the well-being of these precious kids.

Digital Data Divide (www.digitaldatadivide.org)

A school and a business, DDD trains poor Cambodians in computer literacy and the art of digitizing, and has weaved this into a sustainable model by leveraging these high-tech skills for media clients.  DDD is putting back the advantage for the disadvantaged in these prestigious positions. But what’s more is their work in creating jobs in a job-scarce world and giving people a chance to earn decent wages where many cannot.

Mr.Sothea’s orphan project

Home is where the heart is. A volunteer with a compassionate tie to his village, Mr.Sothea personally runs a project for orphans who have no home, supporting their education and finding families to host. Once having to wade through kilometers of jungle waters just for school, Mr.Sothea wants to instill that same passion into his kids and community and help lift them into prosperity.

Mr.Sothea's orphans

There is a growing belief that the traditional method for doing good, giving money to a large charitable foundation, is broken. To confront this fracture, increasing numbers of passionate individuals who are motivated by doing meaningful work have started a new movement to launch self-sustaining, value-driven social enterprises. These enterprises epitomize entrepreneurship in its purest form, which is solving common social problems in an innovative way. Social entrepreneurs pioneer new approaches to address unmet needs while charitable recipients benefit from better investment in their human capital. In sum, social entrepreneurship is an all-encompassing way for multiple parties to build social value together, leveraging an initial investment and creating a sustainable social venture out of it.

Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian Economist, wrote about the spirit of entrepreneurship and defined an entrepreneur as someone who identifies a commercial opportunity and organizes a venture to implement it.  Similarly, social entrepreneurship is also about value creation. The motivation for a social entrepreneur is not financial payout but social change. Instead of creating economic value, social entrepreneurs focus on seeking out opportunities to create social value. They gather resources to solve issues, needs and problems that are not fulfilled by either the governments or the private sector.

Furthermore, social entrepreneurship brings together deep collaboration between the non-profit and business world. Social enterprises are beginning to operate with more business vigor to create a broader more definitive social impact. Knowledge of the business eco-system helps drive social enterprises to be more effective and efficient. In order to create a sustainable organization, there is a need to have a business model that has an immense focus on value creation. This model ultimately trickles into charitable beneficiaries’ daily lives. Specifically, they become active participants in social change rather than passive recipients of donation dollars.

Just as entrepreneurship is instrumental in the advancement of the economies, social entrepreneurship is crucial to the progress of the societies as a whole. There is an increasing importance in promoting social entrepreneurship and providing support for social enterprises. Social ventures are generally considered to be small-scale change tackling a small social problem. This is going to change. With the emergence of successful social ventures such as the Grameen bank, we have witnessed that social entrepreneurship can equally create significant impact, changing the lives of millions of people.

That is the value of social entrepreneurship.