Internet and Information Part Two

Part Two of previous post:

Both nonprofits and foundations need to rethink how they share information. I've made a start with the blogroll on the right-hand column of this blog. If you use del.icio.us you can read what I'm reading (subscribe to my list) and share what you're reading with me (add me to your network), or send me something to think about (link to me). Go ahead - try it! Imagine the collective philanthropy reading list we can build. (Then we'll figure out what to do with it). I'll take the lead in doing this about philanthropy - but YOU can take the lead in doing it about afterschool enrichment programs, vaccination research, water filtration, advocacy grantmaking, biodiversity, serious games, disaster relief or space travel (in other words, whatever you care about).

There are a lot of other cool tools we can use as well - backpack, technorati blog rolls, mybloglog....the important point here is that people interested in/working on a common subject can use these tools to share their information sources, work with colleagues, post questions, filter information, reach out to experts, and keep all of this stuff in one place - actually manage the information they need and knowledge they have - live, in real time, from anywhere, with anyone. The tools mostly exist - its a matter of using them.

Five years ago philanthropy got caught looping in a conversation that went something like this, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could....?" "Yes, but it would be too expensive to build the tools."

Now, the tools exist, and many of us are using them all the time - Flickr, blogs, collaborative writing software, video conferencing, tagging, networks. Its time to really experiment with these tools in the day-to-day work of philanthropy and see what we can improve.