Give It Away | Microphilanthropy Blog

Give It Away #5
Reinventing Charity

Reinventing Charity is the third in a trilogy of TED Talks that we are linking to from the JGooders blog. In this twelve-minute talk from 2007 uploaded only a few months ago, business and government consultant and author Katherine Fulton discusses the future of philanthropy. She eloquently explains the evolution of a new model for philanthropy in the digital age, and how it differs substantially from the traditional foundation -- which was radical when it was invented a century ago but is showing its age as our culture changes at an exponential rate in the twenty-first century. Fulton introduces a slew of new terms that give us a framework for understanding and analyzing what JGooders and others around the world have been doing in the last few years, and that many more will inevitably adopt in the years to come.

First of all there is the democratization of philanthropy: microphilanthropy, peer-to-peer philanthropy, aggregated giving, call it what you will; it is the mass collaboration of average citizens, giving from their time and energy in online marketplaces (like JGooders), forming communities around causes. Then there is the so-called business of benevolence: venture philanthropy, philanthropeneurs, social investing, or any other synonym: the "third-way" movement that's neither nonprofit nor for-profit, but both, combining social justice with economic accountability. In fact, I would add that the whole idea of TED -- taking the accumulated knowledge of our sharpest scientific minds and most influential artists, and charging admission to their live performances, but making the tapes available to anyone with an internet connection -- this is an excellent example of both of these ideals.

Amazingly, at the end of April, the TED organization will be coming to Israel for the first time since it was founded in 1984. There are certainly enough local experts in the fields of Technology, Entertainment, and Design to justify holding a TED event here. Na Laga'at, an amazing organization based in Jaffa that lists with JGooders, will be hosting the TEDxTelAviv event in their performance theater. At this point, it's too late to get tickets to the actual event itself -- the demand is massive -- but as always, all of the presentations will be recorded and eventually uploaded to TED.com and the TED YouTube channel. So check out Reinventing Charity and watch it all the way to the end; I cannot recall a single TED presenter that got as emotional as Katherine Fulton did up on stage. And if you like what you learn, then stay tuned for more "ideas worth spreading"!