Philanthropy in action - this last week Video games and Supreme Court Justices. Museums without collections. New public transportation systems and infrastructure. Students discuss Facebook activism - 5:10 pm pdt June 10. No child. Jewish social entrepreneurs, socialmarkets, and JFN. Pakistani entrepreneurs interested in social change. Just a random walk through my week in terms of
buzzword Buzzwords 2008....Drumroll, please It is finally here. The moment you've all been waiting for. The philanthropy buzzwords 2008 list is here. Or at least some of it, numbers one - three to be exact. 1. Mobile Giving I've written about cellphone enabled giving before, including the US launch of
obama Outsourced idea generation ReadWriteWeb points to OhBoyObama as an "outsourced think tank." The site allows users to submit policy ideas or proposals and the crowd to vote on them. The discussion about the site has focused largely on how it meshes (or doesn't) with the campaign's use
dml How to build a field I know a 14 year old in Contra Costa County who raises money to build soccer fields in South Africa. But I'm talking about building a field of practice - in this case Digital Media and Learning, an area of work we've been engaged in for
The impact of a down economy Last night the Robin Hood Foundation - which I use as my own informal indicator of economic ups and downs - raised $56.5 million for poverty-fighting efforts in NYC. Not bad for a night's work. Unless you compare it to the $71 million the group raised last
information Platforms for action I founded the company I run to help people use data and information in making their philanthropic decisions. I'm a big fan of good information. This interest is why I actually pay attention to technology, intellectual property, and graphic design. I think efforts like policymap and the Pakistan
n2y3 NetSquared Year 3 The Third Annual NetSquared Conference is underway. Here are the 21 featured projects and below is a list of sites where you can follow the action: * http://www.socialmedia.biz/2008/05/follow-the-nets.html * http://www.netsquared.org/blog * http://www.netsquared.org/conference/news * http://twitter.com/NetSquared * http:
future Stirred, not shaken James Bond was known for preferring his martinis "shaken, not stirred." Stephanie Strom's article in Monday's Times on states' pursuits of taxes on presumed tax-exempt organizations raises some important questions about when things blur, rather than blend (or get shaken rather than stirred)
dml Social media for social change Yesterday, I hit the 1000th post mark on this blog. Whew. (Anyone wondering why I haven't delivered those manuscripts to my publisher now knows the answer). In honor of that, I'm simply going to use this post # 1001 to draw your attention to what the experts
2L Virtual worlds meet prizes meet public good Three of the topics I write about frequently - philanthropy and prizes, philanthropy and technology, and philanthropy as a single part of the revenue stream for public good - have all come together in Second Life. Procrastinating from writing, I was perusing my blog reader when I noticed Cory Ondrejka&
blueprint Share the wealth... Share the wealth of information, that is. Here are Tactical Philanthropy's comments on my company's (Blueprint Research & Design, Inc.) standard business practice of generating public reports from all the work we do for foundation clients. Answers to FAQs: * Why does Blueprint include this public report
longnow San Francisco Event - "Technology Empowers the Poorest" "Technology Empowers the Poorest" WEDNESDAY, May 21, 7:00 p.m. Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco Sponsored by the Long Now Foundation Iqbal Quadir is the legendary founder of GrameenPhone, which transformed his home country of Bangladesh in the 1990s and led the way for the cellphone
innovation Measuring failure Two topics of frequent discussion in philanthropy - metrics and innovation - just came together in an interview I heard while listening to the radio. Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace spoke with A.G. Lafley, CEO of Proctor & Gamble and author of a book on innovation, The Game-Changer. You can
budgethero Game Changers Reposted from The Huffington Post The Wii Fit is not the only game changer in town. As everyone knows, the Wii - the motion sensor-enabled video game console that gets players up and moving - is the hottest thing around. The core set of Wii games including tennis, bowling, and
innovation More improvements for social idea markets This post on improving markets for social ideas mentioned InnoCentive - an online marketplace connecting people with ideas to institutions that can make them real (in both social and commercial spheres). The CEO of InnoCentive just added a comment, which you can read here, but he notes two things they
gaymarriage Gay marriage upheld by California Supreme Court Congratulations and thank you to all the activists, philanthropists, lawyers, politicians, individuals and families who made this happen! Legal opinion is here. Tags: philanthropy, gaymarriage, proteusfund, california supreme court
innovation It's a pen, it's a pledge card, it's a cell phone! Everything about the panel set up looked familiar - four chairs on a raised dais, clip on mics, water glasses. It wasn't until the moderator of this particular discussion opened it up to the audience for questions that I realized I was truly among a different group than
Disaster aid updates The Chronicle of Philanthropy* did some quick addition and has identified $8 million in donations to humanitarian groups for recovery from the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. The Chronicle's totals are summarized here: * "Save the Children has won more than $3-million in pledges and
New Head of Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation has announced its new CEO, Jeff Raikes. Announcement is here. Tags: gatesfoundation, philanthropy, jeffraikes
disasterrelief Reminder: Myanmar disaster relief call An emergency teleconference to brief donors about relief and recovery needs and effective philanthropic strategies in response to the crisis in Myanmar is being organized for Monday, May 12th at 3:00 ET. Relief NGO, governmental and multilateral leaders on the ground in Myanmar will provide an up-to-date status report
jfn Improving marketplace(s) for social ideas I recently participated in a discussion about risk and innovation in Jewish philanthropy at the JFN iJew conference. I also serve on the advisory board of a project called the Jewish Professional Co-op - which is in the ever-familiar stage of transitioning from pilot to reality, from project to organization.
fora.tv Big Ideas on Giving Channel Here is a new video on the Giving Channel Philanthropy Today: Big Ideas, Big Gifts, Big Impact http://fora.tv/2008/04/21/Philanthropy_Today_Big_Ideas_Big_Gifts_Big_Impact This is from The New School's fourth annual Big Ideas, Big Gifts, Big Impact: A Conversation with
Silent commentary I've posted two pieces in the last few days that seem to have struck some nerves. And those whose nerves were struck seem to be too nervous to post their comments. The first such post was this one, called Google Recommends, in which I noted that Google was
stuffedandstarved A must read Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel is a must read. Here is the book. Here is the blog. The author is married to a friend of my partner and that is how I first learned of the book, back when it was still being published only in Canada (There'
disasterrelief Myanmar Disaster Relief Advisory Call I posted this information at the bottom of the last post - but in case you don't make it to the end of that post I'll put it here also. An emergency teleconference to brief donors about relief and recovery needs and effective philanthropic strategies in
