- Peter Dietz has some good reflections on the Philanthropy 2.0 session (didn't someone want to drop that buzz word this year?) at Council of Foundations this week. Good links and a video
Related: TSK on Philanthropy, and Emerging Philanthropy
Technorati Tags: COF2008, philanthropy, social enterprise
From a $300 script to $30 million raised in a short time, Mashable tells the GodTube story.
Remember those commercials that my daughter Abigail went to Prague to shoot? They are about to hit American TV and the website is already up. KnowHow2Go.com/tough has the little videos with Abigail in it. [Mum] Watch out for the redhead and the little voice on the main commercial saying "Sign me up!" The larger website has helpful information on how to stay in school and get to College - which is the point of this pro-bono commercial.
Abigail in the "Biology" video.
My brother-in-law Eric Cosper has just turned up here in Orkney with his lovely wife Jenny. All the way from New York. Eric wrote this commercial which is one of the reasons why Abigail was invited to audition. Eric has been doing ads for American TV for a decade. Check out his recent stuff here. And he has just started a blog. He asked what he could do to help while here - ie, painting the Sorting Room . . and we suggested he helps us out in the creative area . . . like . . . make something up . .. DUDE!
Technorati Tags: knowhow2go
"Our philanthropy must be self-sacrificial, other-centred, and generously cooperative in contributing to a society in need . . . It’s all about giving it away to remind our society of the love the Father has for our world."
Mark Petersen, Bridgeway Foundation (Canada), blogging from PIGS.
Sean Stannard-Stockton of Tactical Philanthropy has asked me for a blog post on the Professionals in Grantmaking Society event in Florida. Sounds good to me. I am not at the PIGS meeting [I am not in DC either] but a good number of my friends are there in Florida right now.
There are actually two important philanthropic meetings going on simultaneously in USA and I would not be a conscientous blogger if I did not mention the OTHER one. You know about the Council of Foundations because its a GINORMOUS TEEMING MASS of 3000 participants and because it is being well blogged, thanks to Sean and his team of philanthropists with keyboards. Thanks goodness. Some of us are out of the country and need to hear what's going on.
But the other gathering is in Florida, a smaller, more intimate event, where a number of faith-based Foundation leaders have gathered for their annual Professionals In Grantmaking Sociey (PIGS) event.
Bridgeway's Mark Petersen is blogging from the PIGS event at Open Hands and just posted his throughts on "Slow Cooker Philanthropy". His Foundation recently helped an Emerging worship course launch in New Brunswick.
Philanthropist and blogger Mark Priddy is there but he is not talking. Yet.
Related:
TSK: Emerging Philanthropy and more Emerging Philanthropy, and How to Ask Foundations for Money
Technorati Tags: cof2008, philanthropy
USA Today says death toll rising above 22,000 after Cyclone Nargis. A million homeless. 41,000 missing. Its a massive tragedy! God help them and show us what to do.
- Pray for Burma
Which organizations do you recommend to give your donations?
Technorati Tags: burma
Tim Keller speaks about his book "The Reasons for God" at Google HQ. Worth watching and waiting for the Q and A at the end.
Technorati Tags: tim keller
"Together, we can create a model that is simple, sustainable, and successful. We call it "The Power of Us" and there's room, reason, and benefits, for everyone."
The End of Philanthropy, by Marc Benioff of the Huffington Post
- Diane Sieger is not coming and she tells us why.
- Carla Javits estimates 3500 participants at the Council on Foundations. Thats a lot of people! She has a good post thats worth a read.
Technorati Tags: cof2008
Its really sad. According to Google Webmaster Tools, these are the top results of people reaching my site through the Google search engine and then clicking through (%) to my site. I was hoping for something a bit more uplifting. A bit more . . . well . . you know. . . less disturbing.
Technorati Tags: google
"Use social networks to tell people what organizations your foundation is funding, and why. This will permit you to serve as a scout for citizen philanthropists looking to make informed decisions about where they can direct their philanthropic dollars."
Number 4 of Seven Tips for Foundations Looking to “Push the Envelope” of Philanthropy (Instead of Papers)
Here are some more of the best posts from the Council on Foundations Event.
- Impact and Future of Venture Capital
- Mission Related/Socially Responsible Investing
- Next Gen
Related: Philanthropy at COF: blogs, buzzwords and books.
The Skinny on PIGS: The Other Foundations Conference
Emerging Philanthropy and more Emerging Philanthropy
Emerging Philanthropy Spotlight No. 1: The Indian Taxi Fund
How to Ask Foundations for Money
Technorati Tags: cof2008, philanthropy
Pangea Day is May 10th. Described as a global campfire, and hosted in hundreds of locations in multiple languages, there will be a four hour internet broadcast involving an international film festival. The most northerly location in the UK will be at our Sorting Room. Yes - we are hosting an event here in Stromness, Orkney, streamed from internet and projected on a wall at our Cooperative space. If you live in Orkney, come over at 7pm. Find us by typing Orkney here on Google maps. Bring some drinks with you.
Technorati Tags: pangea day
"So here’s my modest/ambitious proposal . . . create a scale-free network that doesn’t rely on multiple lines going to one source. To get rid of the lines altogether and create spiders. And to leverage the crowdsourcing of blogs and the benevolence of businesses and individuals." Josh Brown, My Proposal.
A great example of emerging philanthropy 2.0 is what Josh Brown is doing in raising micro-loans for social enterprises overseas. He calls it The Indian Taxi Fund. It started off as a way to raise $7500 to help Amit (below, on the left) in India buy a taxi and be self-sustaining in his Christian based voluntary work but is now becoming something much larger.
Josh (right) has been donating a huge percentage of his work as a web designer but is also leveraging others into blogging, giving or loaning small amounts. He has raised $1000 in the past week towards launching social enterprises through these tiny loans. For those that lend $25, Josh is sending out a free book. I have just added "Wanting More" by Joel Vestal to that list because Joel sent me a number of these books to go to a good cause and I am sure he would be thrilled to hear about this project.
Josh is a web designer with Red Cowboy Designs, and co-conspirator of the successful Nic and Josh podcast which now has over 300,000 subscribers. They interviewed me and my Brazilian buddy Olgavaro in Chattanooga a few years ago.
Interesting Facts:
93 - the percentage of total rural borrowings among India's little people that came from private persons in the early 1950's.
100 - the minumum number of people needed to start a credit union in order to launch a successful Co-operative. [From Father Topshee's seven steps for missionaries.]
1854 - The year CMS missions executive Henry Venn recommended credit unions as a necessary step in establishing mission in Sierra Leone.
Related:
- "A New Kind of Hierarchy" (2006) for my thoughts on scale-free networks
- Mission and the Fourth Sector for more on cooperatives, credit unions and mission.
- Josh has just launched a magazine called Talk of the Bay
More spotlights on emerging philanthropy coming this week, to co-incide with the my thoughts on the Council on Foundations 2008 and philanthropy 2.0 discussions.
Technorati Tags: cof2008, philanthropy
“You are a better grantmaker if you do blogs.”
Susan Berresford (ex-Ford Foundation) at the Emerging Leaders Salon, Council on Foundations 2008
"Bloggers are not reporters . . .
they bring a multi-disciplinary approach to thinking about philanthropy."
Sean S.S, Tactical Philanthropy on bloggers.
Blogs to watch this week from the Conference:
- Tactical Philanthropy, whose 18-person blogging team at the conference is composed primarily of program officers and directors of Foundations.
- Philanthropy 2173
- Council of Foundation Blog
Buzzwords:
I submitted mine on the Philanthropy 2173 blog as part of a call for crowdsourcing. I suggested these ones.
local, micro-loans, tiny, for-benefit enterprise, fourth sector, Co-operative, gift economy, leverage, wisdom of crowds, transparency,
Books to buy:
"Grassroots Philanthropy" by Bill Somerville was published in Feb. Might be worth a read.
Creating Change through Family Philanthropy: the Next GenerationCreating Change through Family Philanthropy: the Next Generation
Technorati Tags: cof2008, philanthropy
We are all enjoying good weather and are preparing for our first summer in Orkney. Sam has a part time job working for one of the cafes across the road. Tamara is only 6 but she is becoming a great chef - She just made something yesterday without a recipe - just threw in all kinds of ingredients and it worked out. Tamara and Debbie took a horse and carriage ride yesterday through our town of Stromness as part of a Victorian Day at the museum. [Click thumbnails to enlarge].
You all know the ubiquitous South African Graeme Codrington from his many writings on Future Church, etc. But did you know that his dad, the venerable Dr Reg Codrington has written a great review and synthesis of 5 emerging church books, drawing upon his vast four decades of experience? He responds to books by Carson, Mclaren, McNeil, Claibourne and Sweet. Its about the most honest review I have ever read. He doesnt take sides and has no ax to grind. Behold . . . I give you . . .
Dr Reg Codrington on the Emerging Church
I just love the internet when it allows everyone a voice, no matter where they live. Its Web 2.0, for crying out loud! Its about DRIVEWAYS, not highways, connecting PEOPLE not organizations, its about tiny CANALS, not huge railroads. Its about connecting real people like Graeme's dad who has something important to say with the rest of us who need to hear it.
Technorati Tags: emerging church
The COF (Council on Foundations) Summit starts on Sunday. A Tactical Philanthropy blogging team is in place. RSS is here. Tag is "COF2008"
During next week, I will be exploring the idea of emerging philanthropy, the new ways in which web 2.0 is affecting the resourcing and reporting of social enterprise projects, and i want to highlight some excellent examples.
Technorati Tags: cof2008, foundations, philanthropy
"All the younger artists signed to Christian labels within the last 10 years or less will struggle to understand where they fit—if they fit at all anymore."
"Another whole group of “ccm” era survivors will continue to move country music forward with great success"
"The Tooth & Nail tribe of artists will continue on. It’s about touring and live music. T&N had that right from the beginning—here’s a van and an atlas—see ya."
Bloggable memes from Charlie Peacock as he lays out the future of CCM. HT: Addison Road.
Technorati Tags: ccm
- We are all OK. Weather changing every day.
- Radio Orkney came out yesterday and interviewed Debbie (my wife) and some of the others involved in the Sorting Room that launches in 3 weeks. Debbie was also in the paper this morning from an interview with the newspaper folk regarding starting up her pottery business. What a CELEBRITY!!
- Someone donated their dark room equipment to us - all in perfectly preserved condition from the 70's. We had just cleaned out one of the old toilet blocks to make room for the dark room that I will be using to develop my medium format film.
- Opening day is 22nd of May. Special events all weekend. Good time to come and visit.
- Debbie's brother-in-law Eric from New York and his wife Jenny are coming to visit next week.
Flight of the Conchords debut album hits Number 3 in USA. Well done! As you know I grew a beard so that my friend Derek (who looks like Jemaine) and I could do a take off for YouTube. We actually didn't have time for that. Well we did but we were too lazy. Anyway, I shaved off my Bret Beard yesterday and have gone back to being myself. Pretty pathetic beard though.
If you have never experienced Kiwi culture at its finest, check it out. Their YouTube videos get millions of hits. HT: Steve Taylor
Technorati Tags: conchords, flight of the conchords
Spring is upon us. Here are a few small Web 2.0 projects that I have managed to get done in the past week.
1. Set up Flock as my default browser. (done). Goodbye Firefox and Safari. Flock has been one of the favourite browsers in my harem but now will become my preferred browser-dashboard, Flickr gallery, RSS reader as well as being another blog editing platform, working alongside Ecto.
2. Collate my many web 2.0 life streams into a single multi-streamed gush. (done).
3 Storm into Google, gather the bots and train them all to search my blog responsively, regularly, respectfully, and await my every command to either find, hide, dismiss or prioritize my thousands of blog posts. The last one is a doozy. This is all possible through Google Webmaster Tools (done) and submitting to Google a site map of my blog (done).
4. Add a new and improved web 2.0 friendly template for the blog (done), including a small dashboard for my web 2.0 addictions.(done)
5. Web 2.0 linked signature for Apple Mail (done)
Simon Critchley: "Coming from a background in phenomenology, I'd like to ask you about your relationship with modernity."
Michel Serres: "Maturnity! Why do you ask me about that?" (link)
Michel Serres is my favourite French thinker and author and yet only a few of his works are in English. Notably, The Troubadour of Knowledge (some of which is on Googlebooks). I first read Michel Serres in a The Postmodern Bible Reader. It was one of the best chapters in the book - "Meals Among Brothers: Theory of the Joker" which is a mindboggling, fast-paced complex little piece on socio-economic theory drawn from the encounter between Jacob and Tamar. I thought to myself . . . now HERE is a guy who is just as scatter-brained as I, impossible to box up into one category, probably more ADD than me, and yet absolutely brilliant!
I think i liked him so much because i found an author with a mischievous artistic bent who mashed genres, categories, and expectations and who was confident enough to play with structure, bending grammatical rules to create something profound and poetic. Which is why so much of his nuanced writing is untranslatable from the French but when it does make it into English, its amazing and it invites playfulness and creativity into the writing process. Spike Milligan meets Teilhard de Chardin. At my best, when I am writing well, when words flow effortlessly and transcend boundaries, I find myself thinking of Serres.
Jean Luc Marion is also a favourite but he is far more wordy and not nearly as much fun.
Interesting, I was having a chat with Leonard Sweet some years back and Len told me that Michel Serres is his favourite author. Howzat??? Len used Serres's thinking on "third places" in his book Soul Tsunami. Anyway, I found an interview with Serres from 1995 that Wired was going to publish but they chickened out.
I would love to meet Michel Serres, and hope to one day. In the meantime, a blog has been set up for Serres readers which even has a video of Serres dancing in a club . . . club without poles . . in case you were wondering.
Technorati Tags: michel serres
"Blogging is also invading the ministry world. One-eighth of Protestant churches (13%) now have blog sites or pages through which people can interact with the thoughts posted by church leaders." New Barna Research Describes Use of Technology in Churches.
I appreciate Barna's thoughts and his interview results are helpful,. but I don't see God's people as late-comers to technology, either historically or presently.
The institutional church? OK, maybe.
Probably.
All right - definitely!
But I am also seeing the other side - the people of God willingly create and use the new technologies. I could name many of the current movers and shakers of the new media revolution and tell you what church they belong to. [but i wont]. However, whether we fully explore the implications of that technology, or the changing mindset that results, is another matter.
Related: (TSK) Barna on House Church, The WiFi Enabled Church, Barna's Revolution
Emma Boyd goes to Rwanda and Uganda in 2 months. She needs Polaroid film to give photos to people on location. Got any?
I like the Typepad blogging platform and have used it since converting from Blogger back in 2003. However, it has lagged woefully behind Wordpress in the aesthetics department. Until now. There's a few new pretty-darn-good-looking typepad themes available as the result of a recent theme making contest. The theme I am using today is called HP Wicked Fun. I will probably leave it up for a few days before hacking into it and making it mine. I think it was made by Gwen Stefani.
update: hacked already. japanese theme continued as a hat tip to gwen.
We made ratatouille for lunch from an old French recipe. Elizabeth helped me cook it. Tasted great! Unfortunately, our 6 year old daughter Tamara felt it was not authentic and certainly not as good as what Remy the rat cooked on the Disney movie. So next time, we will probably use the movie recipe from Thomas Keller. Oooopps. That link slipped off. Try this link here.
Technorati Tags: rataouille
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