Thank you
GlenStef

In Europe, government (especially European Union) grants will be the ones basically saving NGOs - though not making them more sustainable, unfortunately. And this goes for third party countries where European NGOs operate, too (Central Asia, the Balkans, the Black Sea Region). In times of crisis, private spending slows down, while government spending goes up.

It would be interesting to see a transfer of this sort of government responsibility/ awareness towards non profits that we see in Europe in the US as well - though I highly doubt it, taking your highly individualistic political culture into account.

At the same time, as I was recently talking to some European friends working in the non profit environment, it would be good for us Europeans to learn more about leveraging individual philanthropy to get support for our causes (pretty much the American model you point out).

Last but not least, my prediction would be that social entrepreneurship will still develop, but that remains to be seen.

And do write more often, dear Ben!

Yesterday Thursday November 20th was Social Enterprise Day, and to mark this special occasion UnLtd took over the heart of the UK’s financial district with The UnLtd Social. As one of UnLtd Award Winners, I was there to show my support for the whole day.

The UnLtd Social took Canary Wharf which is the London equivalent of Wall Street by storm. They had a huge outdoor TV and interactive stage area for entertainment and live debate where they demonstrated how social entrepreneurs can provide an alternative to the credit crunch.

The UnLtd Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs demonstrated best practice and challenge the public’s perception of traditional business and conventional corporate social responsibilities and took social entrepreneurs right to heart of the UK’s financial district.

Addressing the themes of ‘People, Planet and Profit’ - the three main topics of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2008 and against a backdrop of stock market figures and the famous One Canada Square building, The UnLtd Social showcased a new wave of enterprise in the UK and played host to the launch of the Big Challenge for young people in the UK between 13-25 to create their own innovative business ideas.

Starting at 7am in the morning and ending at 8pm in the evening, there were live web chats, video footage, UnLtd Award Winners promoting their products, lively debates, UnLtd staff members on hand with advice and the Cabinet Minister for the Third Sector for the Grand Finale.

So in this doom and gloom current economic environment, I saw a silver lining at the end of the dark tunnel. Let us hope that these young and dynamic social entrepreneurs will trive and rise above this credit crunch.