Since 1997, the Catalogue for Philanthropy (CFP) has been the philanthropic equivalent of the L.L. Bean catalogue, a remarkably appealing wishbook for individuals and families. Instead of lavish photographs of duck-hunting boots and flannel-lined chinos, CFP offers its readers a dazzling array of public benefit projects to support.
Like L.L. Bean, CFP has in recent years built upon its mail-order services by putting its catalogue online. This means that users can do quick searches of philanthropies to support, sorting by programmatic focus. Users are also treated to reflections on the history and meaning of philanthropy, and offered standardized data on state-by-state giving, in the form of the Generosity Index.
Naturally, the "webification" of CFP has meant that that many more worthy causes can be included and updated online than would be possible with the paper version. And although the original focus of the catalogue was Massachusetts, scope of the project has been expanding to include paper and online regional editions for Washington DC, St. Louis MO, and Whatcom County WA. Moreover, George McCully, the catalogue's president, tells me that it is about to become an international enterprise by producing an Australian edition.
I would like to challenge all of us - donors, institutional funders, community activists, nonprofit professionals - to reflect on how the webification of a resource such as CFP gives us an opportunity to to rethink how worthy projects are matched with generous, informed, and enthusiatic supporters in the information age.
NPtech
