About Micro-Philanthropy

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MDTN seems to have learned from the proven best practices of sites like KIVA and Donors Choose.

• As with Donors Choose, the giver can fund a specific project, called in this case a "Wish" by the nonprofit.
• As with KIVA, the giver gets feedback and a felt bond with particular recipient or group. The donor might purchase five soccer balls and get not only a thank you, but a video uploaded showing the balls being kicked about on a dusty field in Africa.
• The site also has a social networking platform for donors to have profiles, blog about their interests, and "befriend" other donors.
• The site is set up to touch the heart as well as the mind.

The business structure is that of a closely held forprofit. The business model, to be announced officially in 4-6 weeks, is as follows:

• Nonprofits can have 5 wishes posted for free
• Beyond that they have to pay for an upgraded membership.
• Businesses are encouraged to purchase an upgrade for a charity. Included in that package is something like 50 wishes, plus training on social network marketing via the site, and additional bandwith to upload videos and pictures.
• Business thereby get the chance to sponsor local grassroots organizations in the communities in which they do business. A sponsorship costing, say. $1,200 a year might enable the nonprofit to raise ten times that.

I asked about competition and critical mass.

• The site is unique given its celebrity overlay. Jessica Biel and her celebrity friends will attract some visitors and makes for a nice story.
• The emphasis, though, is on execution of proven best practices, rather than doing something totally new.
• The hope is to achieve critical mass through network marketing. Each donor and charity has its own network. The charities may upload videos that go viral. Participants can invite friends. Businesses that participate may also tout their participation to employees and customers.

Continue reading Phil Cubeta's review of MTDN >>

Innovations in information technology and communications (ICT) have opened the door to efficiently supporting a large number of small-scale activities, what we are calling micro philanthropy. This workshop explores the possibilities of using "network approaches technology" for micro philanthropic activities. Network approaches represent a radical departure from traditional hierarchical approaches and open up innovative possibilities for self-organization and self-propagation that are not based on a notion that we have "too many problems and not enough money."

Examples of on- and off-line network approaches abound. Google, eBay, and Wikipedia trigger massive change from simple initial ideas. Wikipedia has millions of user-created articles in dozens of different languages.Alcoholics Anonymous (an 80 year-old "viral network") spawns addiction/dependency organizations on the principle of members helping themselves by helping each other. A viral video such as Free Hugs Campaign can reach 25 million viewers in a year -- with zero distribution or advertising costs.

While eBay and Google have well-defined transactional models for their interactions, it is not so clear how we might invoke this power of the network for "better world" activities. There are many internet-based approaches to fundraising; however, this only addresses the philanthropy-as-checkwriting perspective. But as we've seen with AA or the Free Hugs video, viral approaches may be inhibited by imposing financial models on our interaction.

By lowering or eliminating transaction costs, we have the potential for increasing the scale and breadth of interaction -- and the associated feedback we might gather. This feedback could be used for improving the quality of the network, as well as helping us to discover new patterns of uplift. This network could apply a search/amplify growth model: discovering what's working, in which contexts, and then using philanthropic resources to amplify these activities. This is fundamentally different than the more traditional plan/execute model, in which a plan is developed and funded by an organization, and then executed.

The workshop will explore innovative models of using the network for this "search/amplify" approach. Rethinking philanthropy as a massively scalable, fine-grained network opens up possible models of abundance rather than scarcity, and discovery rather than planning.

The workshop will be held over two days at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center, a rustic retreat center located in an 80 acre Redwood forest 45 minutes southwest of San Jose, California. Accommodations will be in the Orchard Lodge, with meetings in the beautiful Casa de Luz. In keeping with the theme of self-organization, the center is a self-service retreat and conference center. Attendees provide their own bedding and bath towels, care for and clean the facility during their stay, and clean the facility thoroughly prior to departure. Off-site accommodations may be arranged, but the registration fee is the same for on-site or commuter participants due to the rental obligations.

Participants will include founders of social action platforms, executive and program staff from nonprofits, traditional and experimental grant-makers, as well as nonprofit technology consultants and those interested in the network theories of change. This workshop is not a time for solicitation of funds, nor will it be interesting to someone solely interested in using the internet as a fundraising tool for their organization.

Continue reading the workshop agenda >>

My thought about your question is that it is about more than fundraising mechanisms. I believe that the process of international development/community development generally is changing dramatically as the internet makes it possible for people to communicate directly.

The philanthrophy, it seems to me, is only a part of the person-to-person connection that is made possible through the internet. People who feel connected to another person and their activities and challenges then want to help, and the advances in micro-philanthropic technology are making that possible in a way that wasn't possible even just a few years ago.

My work with Hopebuilding wiki suggests to me that there is an enormous amount of person-to-person "international development" going on around the world, even as many international development agencies get larger and more imperial in their approach. Many agencies are responding to this development by focusing on the individual stories of achievement that are facilitated by their programs, hoping to benefit from the person-to-person approach.

I think that this "micro-development" follows logically from micro-finance and micro-governance. It reflects something we know well in community development, that working from the grassroots up is far more effective than trying to drive change from the top of the system, which is increasingly disconnected from people at the bottom. Part of the success of all these forms of "micro" activity is that they facilitate small-scale action by people, rather than forcing people into a standardized larger program (as much international development has done over the years); the internet then effectively acts as a "talent scout" and relationship facilitator by bringing people together to work on small scale activities who never, before the internet, would have been connected or have found each other.

Regards,
Rosemary
--
Rosemary Cairns
MA Human Security & Peacebuilding, Certified Professional Facilitator
Uzice, Serbia
Share in building hope at http://hopebuilding.pbwiki.com

The future of philanthropy lies in joining the wave of open source peer-production that is enriching public assets, says Mark Surman.

In viewing philanthrocapitalism through too narrow a lens, Michael Edwards misses how a business-based philanthropy can deliver sustainable social benefits, says Stewart J Paperin of the Open Society Institute

Michael Edwards's critique of philanthocapitalism underplays how far a world of interdependency creates opportunity for civil society to force business into embracing social and legal progress, says Simon Zadek of AccountAbility.

The sceptical scrutiny of "philanthrocapitalism" by Michael Edwards is welcome. But markets and social enterprise could help realise the potential of a new donor economy, says Geoff Mulgan.

Much of Michael Edwards's critique of "philanthrocapitalism" could equally be directed at the large established foundations, says Gara La Marche, who advocates a more active role in the "evaluation" processes that can make the practical case for social-justice philanthropy.