query: how to give away money

[colist-admin at comm-org.utoledo.edu]

[ed:  Linda continues the ongoing conversation on how to transform 
philanthropy.  See the May archives if you lost the thread.]

From: Linda Nessel <lnessel at earthlink.net>

Randy:
I have yet another follow up to Daniel Haran's intriguing query ) about how 
to inform wealthy people about activist causes they may individually want 
to support.  I remain fascinated with the possibility of using the internet 
(and lists) to enlarge the pool and organizing connections between folks 
who have been apathetic and want to get involved if they could find 
approaches that met their individual interests.  Incremental activism and 
its positive ripple effect seems promising in these times.

A friend (who went to several of the Responsible Wealth  forums with me) 
now  expressed her interest in a visible pool for the tax refunds 
($300/600) and combining these sums as a protest against
the tax refund approach and using it for some worthy cause - but in some 
public way that will attract attention instead of just giving it 
individually to a
charity.  She asked if there were any groups to contact.

I can think of a range of approaches--from setting up IDA accounts so that 
those kicked off welfare can begin to accumulate some assets to funding 
activist organizing groups.  My query is whether any groups are 
planning/organizing such an approach?  And, would others be interested in 
thinking about this jointly.  Without some joint approach, there may be the 
risk of the Administration (and conservatives) claiming that their 
strategies of giving $$$ to people rather than govt. is the most effective).

Randy, thanks for your ongoing promotion of activism dialogue

linda
Linda J. Nessel
Senior Extension Associate/  Workforce Development

Cornell University Cooperative Extension/NYC
16 East 34th Street, 8th floor
New York, NY 10016
phone: 212 340-2920
fax    212 340-2908

Internet: ljn2 at cornell.edu
                                         <http://www.cce.cornell.edu/nyc/>http://www.cce.cornell.edu/nyc/ 



At 10:14 PM 5/13/2001 -0400, you wrote:
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>A COMM-ORG "colist" message
>All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>[ed:  thanks to Daniel for summarizing and reacting to the fruits of his 
>query.]
>
>From: Daniel Haran <ah813 at chebucto.ns.ca>
>
>Hi folks,
>
>My apologies for taking so long to all of you who responded to my query. I
>would like to thank all of you who took the time to reply.
>
>There were a number of interesting things that caught my attention amidst
>all the interesting projects that people told me about.
>
>I particularly liked the following:
>
>http://www.resistinc.org/
>
>http://www.haymarket.org/
>
>http://www.korrnet.org/appafund/
>
>It is unfortunate that resist will only fund groups in the US of A, but
>the list of grantees gives some examples of radical organizations that are
>worth considering. I believe all three of the above provide interesting
>models that could be applied here in Canada where there isn't such a
>vibrant foundation sector as in the US.
>
>Honourable mention goes to:
>
>http://www.tides.org/
>
>Looks like they do very worthwhile work; though they seem so polished
>(they even use flash on their website!), that I'm a bit apprehensive about
>recommending them to my friends.
>
>One reason I really appreciated Linda Nessel's contribution is that it
>takes care of one of my concerns: namely my not-so-hidden agenda to allow
>my friends to be changed (moved?) by the struggles I ask them to help
>financially.
>
>I assume that my position is one that many have faced and will continue to
>face: being the most "radical" in a social group and looked to for advice
>by well-meaning but very busy people. I don't believe that an
>online-listing of organization would see much money flowing in from casual
>surfers and people looking to give money away. But I do believe that there
>are others like me that can use the information they find to personally
>approach friends with a list that is suited to them.
>
>It is also likely that such listings would be useful for networking
>amongst groups. My limited experience as a web-site manager for an
>anti-sanctions group (Iraq) is that we get a few contacts a year from
>people that found us online. They sometimes result in collaboration and
>interesting projects, and are always very exciting.
>
>So Linda: yes, please, if you know people that would be willing to keep
>the information up-to-date, I for one would find it extremely helpful.
>
>Perhaps there is possibility for collaboration between/ help from some of
>the funders? (resist, haymarket, other regional foundations). I might also
>suggest the people at Indymedia, who may be able to provide technical
>backing-- their sites run on PHP, an open source scripting language that
>seems perfectly suited for these types of applications.
>
>Sincerely- Daniel.
>
>----
>Reporter: What do you think of Western Civilization?
>Gandhi: I think that would be a good idea.
>
>Daniel's home page. Not quite as profound, perhaps worth a visit
>http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ah813/
>
>
>
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