The Massachusetts Nonprofit Database is coming to the Ethos Roundtable on Tuesday, and I can hardly wait to see how this informal group of geeks and assorted others will respond.
Thus far, I've sat in on three demonstrations of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Database. In each one, there has been a big AHAH! moment for everyone in the room. It always comes at the point where one of the developers shows the group that you can see a map created on the fly that depicts all the nonprofit organizations that provide a certain kind of service in a specific part of Massachusetts. They then show you how you can log in on behalf of your organization and draw the parameters of your service area directly on the map, and everyone gets excited, because they see that this is information they can use. Imagine what it would be like, if you were thinking of starting a new program (or even a new nonprofit organization) in Massachusetts, and you could instantly find out whether there are already ten other agencies offering those services within a one mile radius.
It's the visual appeal of this function that makes the crowd go wild, but in fact, Tom Pollak, Doug Denatale, and Liz Keating have created an online database of nonprofits in Massachusetts that is a tool in the spirit of a Swiss Army Knife. It's multi-functional, and you'll probably never use all of the components, but it is so cool to know that they are in your pocket.
I love cool tools, but I appreciate the serious implications of this as well. First of all, this marks a big breakthrough in transparency and accountability to the public. Secondly, if the nonprofit sector is going to deliver on its mission, collaborate more effectively, make decisions that are informed by relevant data, and avoid duplicating labor, then we need access to information in a form that we can use. It's not enough to make information available to the public online; we also have to be able to slice it, dice it, and mash it up. (The Massachusetts Nonprofit Database is a project of the Boston Foundation and the National Center for Charitable Statistics, two institutions that understand this very well.) I look forward to the day when the Massachusetts Nonprofit Database converges seamlessly with the ResourceMatcher.Org tool and the nonprofit management answers tool.* Fortunately, the folks behind each of these ideas are all members of the brain trust for capacity mapping and resource matching, so none of these projects is unfolding in isolation.
But to me, it also seems important to showcase the Massachusetts Nonprofit Database with local stakeholders that aren't handpicked by the brain trust or even the Boston Foundation. The Ethos Roundtable is an inclusive group that is open to all who are interested in ICT for positive social change - no reservations are needed to attend, and credentials aren't scrutinized at the door. The attendees range from technophiles to technophobes, and all sectors are usually represented around the table. Friendly heckling of the featured guests is the norm. I'm guessing that the attendees will enjoy an AHAH! moment, but what I'm also hoping is that the presenters will.
* The latter, which was being developed under the working title of NonprofitManagementAnswers.Org, has been officially dubbed NonprofitManagement101.Org.