As readers of my blog know, I'm an avid fan of the Modest Needs Foundation. This organization's web-based resources enable all of us to be philanthropists, mitigating longstanding obstacles such as geographic distance, small budgets, and lack of reliable information about where timely assistance can make a big difference.
Modest Needs has now launched a blog, and I'd like to encourage both skeptics and fans of e-philanthropy to keep an eye on it.
The Modest Needs model seems so simple and obvious - now that Keith Taylor has invented it. A lot of brilliant ideas look that way after the fact!
While I wouldn't want to discourage the Modest Needs Foundation from doing serious, long term, quantitative evaluation of its social return on investment, I have to admit that here is a project that really lends itself to feel-good anecdotes. I'm hoping that the new blog will turn into an experiment in online outreach, storytelling, and community building.
