October 16, 2007
A Call for Foundation Blogging
Foundations need to jump into the online fray and start blogging, argues one prominent philanthropy observer.
Once financial markets were physical locations where the players were people who knew each other and traded information as they traded goods and services. Today those markets are virtual, but still rely heavily on human interaction, Sean Stannard-Stockton, a California philanthropy adviser, writes on the Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion blog.
“Philanthropy is making this same transition as we head full tilt towards a fast moving global stream of social investments benefiting high-impact social enterprises with both nonprofit and for-profit status,” writes Mr. Stannard-Stockton, who is the author of his own blog, Tactical Philanthropy. “This transition does not just require data; it requires conversation.”
Grant makers need to be part of that conversation, and he believes that the two-way flow of communication that blogs encourage makes them an important vehicle for discussion.
Says Mr. Stannard-Stockton: “As this philanthropic marketplace emerges, foundation communication efforts will need to move away from disseminating information out from the foundation to managing the flow of information into and out of the foundation.”
What do you think? Are the debates promoted by blogs important for the growth and development of philanthropy? If so, what role should grant makers play?
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I find the conversations invigorating and very valuable in keeping up to speed on current thinking in the field. However, I continue to have a nagging sense that the conversation is between the same folks. Being relatively new to consistently reading blogs, this familiarity can sometimes exclude those of us who are new.
— Suzy Oct 26, 12:04 PM #