501derful.org
Any good sports fan or coach will tell you that the key to any game is
getting and keeping the momentum. Same is true in business, and social
causes. One of the reasons large philanthropies are large is that they
have found ways and programs to build and maintain momentum. Nothing is
perpetual and maintaining forward progress should be part of any
organizations mission.
In terms of one man non profits how much momentum can one person
generate. Throughout history individuals indeed have changed the world.
Web based tools in this day and age are allowing entrepreneurial
philanthropists to gather potential energy and release it once a
critical mas has been reached. The Point is one such system. The Point is a new way of thinking about collective action. People
need a way to know where their participation adds the most value.
That’s what The Point offers—an environment where people are only asked
to participate when their action can be combined with others to create
a solution.
Utilizing online systems to gauge the potential energy for any social
cause could be a valuable tool for emerging philanthropic activities.
More precisely systems like the point can help identify if there is a
gap with sufficient interest to create an entity to serve it.
Established organizations should use this kind of a systematic approach
to fill those gaps. In both cases it reduces cost as an entry barrier
as well as helps set potential expectations before a program even gets
underway.
