Betterplace.org – reducing philanthropic barriers?

One of the questions that the wave of new philanthropic marketplace tools is how to control quality and ensure donor confidence in the organizations in which they invest. While people tend to be comfortable with brand-name humanitarian organizations like CARE acting as stewards of their donations, its less clear how your average individual donor becomes [...]

Even if you build it, they might not come: GlobalGiving goes green

Continuing the conversation that’s been evolving for the last few days, the New York Times today reported that GlobalGiving was launching a new “Green” portal, populated by 25 projects from the main GlobalGiving site that have clear environmental impact and have been vetted for factors such as “how well it helps reduce harmful emissions, plus [...]

WSJ article on e-philanthropy and social networks rubs up against a problem

A big ol’ article in today’s Wall Street Journal provides an overview of the world of online giving and social networking for philanthropy. It profiles SixDegrees.org, Kevin Bacon’s organization, Causes on Facebook, and references Social Actions (nice job guys!), but never really does more than provide an overview of the space until the end of [...]

Tracking the downward pattern in philanthropic giving

A number of articles including Slate.com’s “The Coming Charity Crisis” have pointed out a downward trend in American charitable giving in 2008. Slate’s article notes that:
“In May, the annual gala of the Robin Hood Foundation, an event at which a few thousand hedge-fund magnates and leveraged buyout titans conspicuously display their wealth and commitment to [...]