How Social Good Has Revolutionized Philanthropy
The term “Social Good” has been bandied about, but pinning down exactly what it means in concrete terms can sometimes be tricky. Is social good the same as “the common good”? Is it the same as normal fundraising? Is it just online giving, or is it particular to social networks and web trends?
Social good is equal parts online fundraising and advocacy via social networks. While the Internet has been used before by non-profits and charities to raise money, social good implies more than just money changing hands. Social good campaigns often combine the ability of the Internet to find, introduce and bond communities around a common interest. That interest, in this case, is usually a problem worth fixing.
Where social good starts to get fuzzy is just how that problem gets fixed. Social good campaigns can be about building safe, entirely free, online support communities, spreading awareness through updates, raising cash, or a combination of all three.
Tip of the Hat to Pierre Levy at LinkedIn.
Phi Beta Iota: Our colleague Harrison Owen keeps stressing that the Internet has unleashed a new level of self-organization, and we are starting to realize how right he is. What is missing in our view is a service of common concern that provides public intelligence about the true costs of every good and service (while outing corruption through transparency), and at the same time connects the one billion rich to the five billion poor one micro-need at a time BUT visible to those who wish to aggregate needs and solutions. This is illustrated in Graphic: Global Range of Nano-Needs and discussed coherently and in detail in 2010 INTELLIGENCE FOR EARTH: Clarity, Diversity, Integrity, & Sustainability.
