While the boundaries between the public (government), private (business), and social (non-profit) sectors have been blurring, many pioneering organizations have been blending social aims with business approaches.  There are many expressions of this trend, including corporate social responsibility, micro-finance, venture philanthropy, sustainable businesses, social enterprise, privatization, community development and others. As this activity matures, it is becoming formalized as a ‘fourth sector’ of the economy.

 

Businesses are dedicating more resources to delivering social benefits. Cause-based marketing, the triple bottom line and corporate social responsibility are a few of the buzzwords that have come into usage in recent years as part of this trend (for more terms, see Figure 1). Meanwhile, public and social sector organizations are attempting to operate in a more businesslike method (see Figure 2 for examples of trends).