(A version of this item with live link is available at
<http://blog.deborah.elizabeth.finn.com/blog/_archives/2006/9/12/2319799.html>.)
Dear ISF Colleagues,
As readers of my blog know, I'm an avid fan of the Modest Needs
Foundation. This organization's web-based resources enable all of us
to be philanthropists, mitigating longstanding obstacles such as
geographic distance, small budgets, and lack of reliable information
about where timely assistance can make a big difference.
Modest Needs has now launched a blog, and I'd like to encourage both
skeptics and fans of e-philanthropy to keep an eye on it.
The Modest Needs model seems so simple and obvious - now that Keith
Taylor has invented it. A lot of brilliant ideas look that way after
the fact!
While I wouldn't want to discourage the Modest Needs Foundation from
doing serious, long term, quantitative evaluation of its social return
on investment, I have to admit that here is a project that really
lends itself to feel-good anecdotes. I'm hoping that the new blog
will turn into an experiment in online outreach, storytelling, and
community building.
Best regards from Deborah
Deborah Elizabeth Finn
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
deborah_elizabeth_finn
post.harvard.edu
www.cyber-yenta.org
.