If Web 2.0 was a local swimming pool, nonprofits would be the older kids hanging out by the diving boards while grantmakers still paddled around the shallow end. Increasingly, however, grantmakers are swimming towards the deep end of Web 2.0, using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, online video, and text messaging to accomplish their own goals.
Bad metaphors aside, GEO cooked up a stellar article about how grantwriters are increasingly using Web 2.0 (and even some 3.0) tools in their work. In their eyes, there are four main goals that grantmakers can hope to accomplish:
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Facilitate communication among grantees – enable them to connect before and after in-person gatherings (see Purpose Prize Innovation Network) and promote tagging on sites like Flickr as an information sharing tool.
- Connect nonprofits with external experts – webinars, podcasts, and other multimedia tools can be used to link nonprofits with third parties that can provide them a valuable resource.
- Serve as an information resource to community beyond grantees – grantees aren't the only ones who could use a little networking – you can aggregate and share community data, information about funding and learning opportunities, and mapping tools like the Google Earth Outreach Program.
- Improve foundations' communication with grantees and increase transparency – naturally, people like to know what their money's going toward, so you can use RSS feeds to keep them in the loop on your foundation's latest ongoings (see Charles Stewart Mott Foundation).
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