Tech Hybrids Blend Lofty Ideals With Bottom-Line Business

Tech companies that blend social missions with business ambitions are all the rage in Silicon Valley. Called “social enterprises,” they often generate sizable revenue (unlike most nonprofits), that’s then retained and reinvested (unlike most for-profits). Now, an ecosystem of related organizations is emerging, such as specialized legal services and independent Internet providers, reports the New York Times.

“We went through all these decades where we had nonprofits that thought business was evil and sustainability was irrelevant,” says one social entrepreneur advisor. “Now there has been an influx of business thought. People are saying, ‘I have enough money and I care.’” The best-known examples are Mozilla Corporation, which develops the web browser Firefox, and TechSoup, which delivers commercial software to non-profit groups in 14 countries. (More social responsibility stories.)