Northern California Grantmakers

It’s Twitter Thursday again here on the NCG blog. Time for us to highlight some of the organizations and individuals we follow through Twitter.

And if you want to follow NCG on Twitter, check us out at twitter.com/NorCalGrant.

Here’s Who We’re Following on Twitter

LPFCH
Also known as the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, LPFCH uses its Twitter account to share research and news related to children’s health. Additionally, this NCG member tweets about Kidscal Updates, their weekly digest about children’s health events in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, and Kidsdata Advisories, which raise the visibility of children’s issues in California.

Here’s a sampling of their recent tweets:

Less Than 25% of 2010 High School Graduates Passed the ACT College Entrance Exam; Questions Rise about College-Readiness http://ow.ly/2rzl3

This week’s Kidscal Update, noting children’s health events in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, now is online http://is.gd/1qq5v

tactphil
Not only do I follow Sean Stannard-Stockton‘s Tactical Philanthropy blog, I follow his tactphil Twitter feed. Recently Sean, the CEO of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, used his Twitter feed to muse and stoke dialogue on the Social Innovation Fund’s selection process.

no doubt that “accountability” transparency questions/the “smoke” led to transparency that will advance impact of #SIF effort #SIFDEB

Getting the facts behind the SIF issue: Social Innovation Fund Process Stirs Controversy from @philanthropy – http://bit.ly/cPjiyJ

VaultCSR
VaultCSR is the twitter feed of Aman Singh, the CSR Editor at Vault.com. Aman’s interests include corporate social responsibility, sustainability practices, diversity and women leadership in the workplace–all of which are represented in her tweets.

For example:

The #csr Daily is out – read this Twitter newspaper on http://paper.li/tag/csr (147 contributions today)

Comments continue to pour in 4 “Why There IS a case for #CSR Despite WSJ’s Obituary” http://bit.ly/bXgzM3 << Have u weighed in yet? #careers

ZeroDivideorg
NCG member ZeroDivide invests in community based social enterprises which leverage technology to benefit people in low income and other underserved communities. Considering their mission, it makes perfect sense that they have a strong online presence on Twitter and that they are concerned about internet accessibility. Case in point this recent tweet on net neutrality:

Users, not ISPs, need to decide what services get on the Internet, says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. http://bit.ly/abLlJq #netneutrality

Have any Twitter recommendations for us? Let us know who you think we should be following.

It’s Monday again and I’m perusing our Twitter feed and the blogs I follow on Google Reader finding all sorts of interesting articles and commentary on Philanthropy. Here’s what’s caught my eye so far today:

Disaster Relief
“Floodwaters Continue to Surge in Pakistan”. Photo essay showing the effects of flooding on the people of Pakistan.

“The Legacy of Katrina for Gulf Coast Charities”. In this Chronicle of Philanthropy article nonprofit leaders talk about where things stand five years after Katrina.

Learning From Others
“Do No Evil”. Stanford Social Innovation Review article by Suzie Boss takes a look at Google’s philanthropic arm DotOrg and how their corporate culture proved its brilliance and its burden.

Social Innovation Fund
“Amid Concerns of Favoritism, Federal Officials Disclose New Details on Selection Process”. Social Innovation fund officials explain their decision to post 10 of the 11 winning SIF applications online.

“Next Steps for Social Innovation Fund: A Call to Action”. Tactical Philanthropy’s Sean Stannard-Stockton examines the controversy surrounding the Social Innovation Fund’s transparency issues.

Social Media
“Six Pixels of Separation”, a summary about a new book by Mitch Joel that examines “how social media is connecting your business to everyone.”

Great minds think alike.

In this case the great minds are Pablo Eisenberg, senior fellow at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and Jim Canales, President and CEO of The James Irvine Foundation.

On Monday both Pablo and Jim reflected on the Gates/Buffet challenge, both issuing forth their own call for philanthropy.

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, Jim Canales reflected on the Gates/Buffett challege in a guest blog post on Tactical Philanthropy. Jim called for foundations to reflect on how to improve relationships between grantmakers and grantees.

In his Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion piece Pablo Eisenberg cautions that the Gates/Buffet challenge has the “potential to intensify the inequities that exist both in the nonprofit world and in the rest of society.”

And the questions put forth in his opinion piece are definitely food for thought:

When will this money be distributed to charities?

Mr. Buffett has said that he plans to give away 99 percent of his fortune while he is alive or at his death, and he has made clear in his gifts to the Gates Foundation that he wants the money to be distributed quickly rather than left to sit in the foundation’s coffers. But will other donors do the same, or will they put their money into foundations that give only a small percentage of their assets every year?

Who will provide the leadership to increase the quality of philanthropy, not just the amount of money given?…What steps will be taken to ensure public accountability?

I find it serendipitous that both these thinkers arrive at similar conclusions despite coming at the issue from different starting points.

And very telling.

Because the Gates/Buffett challenge isn’t just for billionaires, there’s the challenge it puts to the field of philanthropy: how will we rise to the challenge of dealing with the pledged money?

Read Pablo Eisenberg’s opinion piece online.

Read Jim Canales’ guest blog post online.