A gathering of market makers Back in June I called for a new one-click infrastructure. My point - with the abundance of social action platforms and online giving sites it is high time they got together and identified their shared needs, regulatory issues, market size, and ways they might share data. Well, Wednesday night in
media Who needs an annual report? By now I'm sure you've heard that Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is going to announce his choice for Vice President by text message. Imagine a world in which texting is how major news gets announced. What does that mean for your philanthropy?
What's wrong with embedding... There is an interesting comment discussion going on in relation to this post from a week or so ago....touches on the role of everyone as a content producer and thus an advertiser, fundraiser, influencer. What might this mean for giving and activism? Don't put this off to
Receiving well I wrote recently that the Internet may not be changing giving so much as receiving. In honor of the 28th Steinbeck Festival (which just concluded) here is John Steinbeck, writing in 1951, on what it takes to be good at receiving: Perhaps the most overrated virtue in our list of
advertising Philanthropy Advertising (photo from adweek.com) My post on Embedded Giving 2.0 elicited a comment that suggested this kind of activity - in which individuals advertise their chosen brands on behalf of their favorite causes - be called "embedded advertising." Nothing embedded about the latest advertisement for philanthropic advising
nptech NpTech Wow - check out this post on Beth's blog, tracking a "slow season" in developments in the nonprofit social media space. Let me say, if that is low volume, watch out for peak season. The post itself is full of the latest and greatest and not
patel 2009 - the year of philanthropy books One of the nice things that has happened to me in the last several years is that I often get asked to read and comment on other people's manuscripts. This gives me a chance to learn from good thinkers as they are still in the creative process -
Losing the other - a philosophical divergence The State of California is operating without a budget. This happens just about every summer, as governors and legislators nit and bicker and fool around with people's lives. This year, my local paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, has been covering the story by looking at the impact of
competition Marketized giving There is lots of talk about how the Internet has democratized giving. Sites that make giving easy and bring down the transaction costs have made it possible for lots of people to support lots of causes and issues that they might not have been able to do before. Personally, I
Algorithms and recommendations Broadband Internet access may have done more to disrupt the recording industry then any other, though I suppose print journalism is not far behind. I find that it pays to listen to music lovers when it comes to their thoughts on web-based tools as they tend to try them all
Syndication and other notes A couple quick notes for this Monday: Philanthropy2173 is joining the JustMeans team. I'll be blogging from All Things Reconsidered on the first and third Fridays of each month, beginning this week on 08.08.08 (my own Olympic moment!). Joining up with JustMeans puts us in touch
Data + Prizes = "made for me" blog topic I spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the data we need to make better giving decisions. This has led to a lot of time watching data providers in the social capital market space grow and diversify. This has lead to a growing discussion group that is thinking
Embedded Giving...2.0 Embedded giving - in which a charitable transaction becomes part of any other financial transaction, such as checking out of the grocery store and making a donation to diabetes care - has gone web 2.0. Now, SocialVibe lets you, the customer, promote the brands you like and they will
philanthropiccapitalmarkets Product innovation in Social Capital Markets Last week I wrote about a new philanthropic mutual fund. Today, SocialEdge, is discussing a new blended option for investing in social enterprises. The model draws lessons from microfinance and social networks, and is explained on the Entrepreneur Commons site. Here is the one sentence description: "A not-for-profit social
Pandora, pop culture and philanthropy Is there such a thing as a philanthropic phenotype? I've been listening to Pandora a lot lately. This is a service, based on the Music Genome Project, that recommends music you might like based on the artists you choose. So far, it has worked pretty well for me
globalgiving Green cross-platforms I read about William Easterly's new edited book, Reinventing Foreign Aid, over on Mari Kuraishi's blog - and went right out and bought a copy. I know less about international philanthropy than I'd like to. Ironically, from my perspective, one of the great aspects
finance Philanthropic mutual fund In 1991 Fidelity investments introduced the charitable gift fund. There are now billions of dollars in assets under management at mutual fund company donor advised funds. In 2008 the Davlin Philanthropic Fund launched the first no-load mutual fund in which investment fees are donated to charity and mutual fund returns
War is not good for philanthropy War is not healthy for children and other living things. Sadly this slogan from my childhood is still on t-shirts today, during my child's childhood. It is also the headline I would have used for this report: “Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and
everywhere Success and failure I'm on the run today, here are some quick observations, thoughts, blah blah blah: 1. I've blogged about failure as a precondition for success. Was thrilled to learn that one of my posts on said topic was picked up as "suggested reading" by a
Keep the Momentum I attend a lot of conferences (too many). Philanthropy, technology, education, nonprofit, finance, entrepreneurship, community change, media, publishing - a lot of interests and a lot of conferences. So, with my credentials established, I want to put it out there that this afternoon I may have been to the most
momentum2008 Momentum is underway Here's what I've learned about liveblogging conferences - others are better at it than I am. Here are some thoughts and "10-minute-old" reflections on the Democracy Session at the Momentum Conference: Most important concept I heard: Transparent Democracy - and a new web site
accountability More data Here's an email I received in response to the "Data, Data Everywhere" post. Notes another resource to the ever growing list and begs a question from me - what is the right "level" at which to try to gather/clean/present/analyze NGO data?
conversion More on cross-platform philanthropy OK, I may be beating this into the ground, but two more items caught my attention that furthered my thinking on cross-platform philanthropy. * As if my ponderings on public media and cross-platform content weren't topical enough, yesterday I read that the NPR staple, "Car Talk" has
momentum John Edwards, Social Justice and Momentum Sunday night, July 20, John Edwards will be speaking with David Brancaccio of PBS NOW, as part of the opening event for the 3rd Momentum conference in San Francisco. 6:30 pm. W Hotel, 181 3rd Street, San Francisco Tickets to hear Edwards are available here. If hearing John Edwards
finance Cross-platform philanthropy Yesterday I pondered the relationships between philanthropy and public broadcasting. I got on a mental roll after I'd posted the post and wound up going back to edit - those of you who read this in email or a reader may not got the fully-edited version. Below is
