Major media outlets are joining the Obama administration in highlighting the importance of investing as a nation in innovative solutions to the many social problems we face. Alongside the White House Office on Social Innovation and Civic Participation, the Social Innovation Fund is central to this effort. A recent New York Times editorial highlights the challenges that face even the most successful nonprofits, and points to the Social Innovation Fund as a potential solution:

The plan recognizes a hard reality of the nonprofit world: It is a lot easier to secure foundation grants and other short-term financing to develop a model program than it is to come up with the capital to expand successful programs and their potential for systemic change.

The fund is supposed to address that problem by identifying successful high-impact programs prime for further development and expansion and then using government dollars as a catalyst to raise sustainable financing from foundations, businesses and individual donors.

As The New York Times editorial demonstrates, social innovation is gaining traction across both government and media. We are hopeful alongside The New York Times that “this $50 million investment could jump-start the larger effort and reap benefits worth many times over.”

Read The New York Times editorial here.