Michael Maranda put me on to this. Please check out the 15 minute film and the related site. And this key post on the Stewardship of Open Source Networks. The vision is incredibly compelling, and at least half way practical. Count me in as a node on this network. I will commit (assuming there is a need for this) to creating a free online node for those high capacity funders who want to educate themselves to make wise giving decisions in an open source, open space, coalition of the willing for a thriving planet. Log on, converge, swarm.
If you are a regular Gifthub reader, please take the time to investigate the links above. Then, please drop a comment or an email on how you think those capable of "philanthropy" might be brought into this mix. How can donors support an ever-evolving network of often evanescent nodes ("the swarm") devoted to social change in the face of an increasingly militant status quo (Beck, Koch, et al)? How can such a network of networks be funded? I have specific thoughts on this. What occurs to you?
Recently I discovered that the Gifthub readership skews towards women in nonprofit roles who are old enough to recall the social activism of the 60s. Comrades of the Female Gender! For very good reason, you don't comment here. If I were respectable, I wouldn't either. But if you do have insights into how to convene, connect, and fund a global network of organizations so tiny that most are not legally nonprofits, I would appreciate your getting in touch by email. Community foundations are, presumably, part of this mix.
