A wonderful paper by Heather Wood Ion. "Measure" she reminds us is also a musical term. Well worth reading with this paper, on evaluation, by William Schambra. Giving face to face, and hand to hand in your neighborhood, is a far cry from the scientific mananagement we associate with corporate business plans, social venture philanthropy, large foundations, and government programs. Big, scientifically managed enterprises have a part to play, no doubt, but it is interesting to see thoughtful people converging on the idea of getting small in a big way. (If I were Attila the Hun, I would hire a lobbyist and a pundit to make this case, so as to keep the peasants occupied as I pillaged the commons. The problem today is that the big profits go the few and the big problems, with the environment and poverty, for example, to the many. The result of concentrated wealth and power is that the world is going to heck faster than our small gifts can address. So, I applaud Small and look forward to the busting up of Big - not just foundations and gummit, but big bidness and big think tanks too. We need the small units to come together in a larger social movement, making democracy felt though its elected representative, more public-spirited than those we now have, if small and beautiful is to prevail over big and ugly. The results we seek will not come just by piddling about in isolation.)
I agree with this sentiment and try to make it a reality via the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Since 1993 I've been building a database of organizations that do some form of tutoring/mentoring in Chicago. I host this information on the Internet, using GIS maps to help people make a connection between where the need for these programs is greatest and what programs operate in what areas. I then lead a public awareness campaign, such as posting this message in a giving hub, that encourages donors and volunteers to pick their charity using this resource. As this gains traction those with the ability to help (dollars, volunteers, ideas, etc.) will search out places to help at the same time as the leaders of those places are trying to find this help.
Posted by: Dan Bassill | September 23, 2004 at 12:21 PM
Thanks, Dan.
Posted by: Phil | September 23, 2004 at 03:17 PM