Philanthropy 2.0
By Greg Berry
Filed Under Modern Philanthropy |
The decentralizing power of the Internet and social media has changed the philanthropic world in a big way during the past couple years. Once the province of older, wealthy donors on one side of the ledger and hard-working, under-financed idealists on the other, philanthropy is very different these days. Before we get into some details, it’s probably a good idea to define our terms.
Philanthropy 2.0 borrows more than the jargony, buzz-word-laden, faux-hipness from Silicon Valley’s latest incarnation of web-based mashups, social networks and blogging tools. Philanthropy 2.0 is about participation. It’s about using the Internet to connect people. It’s about open collaboration and a higher flow of smaller donations. Philanthropy 2.0 could possibly be a demonstration of the evolution of our species. An optimist might even see a very early start in the shift towards social justice driven from the ground up on a global scale, building a powerful yin to the yang of the centralized giving based in national aid agencies and huge, old, conservative foundations.
If you’re looking for some examples, and places to participate, Philanthropy 2.0 is exemplified by many recent initiatives which have gained significant attention:
Sean Parker and Joe Green, co-founders of Facebook and Napster have created Facebook’s Causes application, which lets you add philanthropic messages and fundraising to your profile. Contribute, a media company focusing on next-generation philanthropists recently profiled their work, highlighting over 3 million Facebookers who have Contribute widgets on their personal pages.
Kiva
Kiva.org is a peer-to-peer lending platform that lets anyone loan (generally small amounts of) money to people in the developing world. In 2007, the site gained so much attention in North America that is sometimes found all loans subscribed, and more donors than people in need. While this may point to the disconnect between need and internet access in the developing world, it’s a testament to the power that the web is having on philanthropy.
The Case Foundation
Steve Case, founder of America On Line (AOL) launched “America’s Giving Challenge” in late 2007. Working with both Parade Magazine (Sunday magazine of many of the country’s top newspapers) and Facebook, The foundation arranged cash prizes for non-profits who received the highest number of donations (not the most money) during their 6-week campaign, emphasizing participation over wealth.
eConscious Market
Of course, there’s our own initiative –eConscious Market — which donates 50% of our profits to a huge variety of non-profits that customers get to choose from. All the products are chosen for their eco-conscious manufacturing or operations practices.
Global Giving
Like Kiva, GlobalGiving lets you choose individual projects to support. Unlike Kiva, at Global Giving you are donating, not lending the money. They connect you with 450 pre-screened grassroots charity projects around the world.
Want to take action?
- Lend money as a micro loan to Kiva
- Donate at Global Giving
- Shop at eConscious Market
- To create a micro donation widget for your own organization, learn more at NTEN or connect directly with developers at Techfinder.org
- Use Facebook Causes to raise money for your favorite charity
- Donate to GlobalGiving
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Posted on April 28, 2008 |
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5 Responses to “Philanthropy 2.0”
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Micro philanthropy is how Barack Obama makes millions for his campaigns. It is one of the ways We The People can truly vote for what we want to happen in this world. I love this topic Greg-thank you so much!
Hey Greg,
Thanks so much for the awesome SHOUT-OUT! We are checking out your non profit info and will get signed up, so we can be part of the eConsciousMarket community.
Cheers,
Donna @ GlobalGiving
Hi Donna,
Thanks for all of your hard work. It’s a real inspiration for those of us working hard at merging social media and social benefit.
Keep up the good work!
Greg
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