An (explicitly compassionate) philanthropic web

"The philanthropic web" is a phrase coined by Social Actions' Peter Deitz to describe an online environment in which open source technologies transform every website into a place to engage in philanthropic activity. In other words, no matter where you are online, you're presented with immediate and relevant opportunities to take action on issues that are important to you.

At Social Actions, the working definition of philanthropy is "a gesture of compassion towards humanity." This discussion -- and the conference and publications mentioned below -- are about exploring what it is about those actions that make them philanthropic using that definition.

What is it that makes a particular action compassionate? What would we have to know -- about the people who are creating that opportunity to do something, about the people whose lives would be impacted by what we do, and about ourselves -- in order to recognize whether an action is compassionate or not? What does it mean to "be compassionate," and how do we make sure that the opportunities we create to do something are consistent with that "being-ness?"

The idea for this discussion came out of a conversation between Jean Russell -- who was looking for a place to link her passions for social media and Thrivability -- and Christine Egger -- who was looking for a place to link her passions for Social Actions and chaos theory, specifically the concept of 'gentle action'.

We hope it becomes a starting place for brainstorming and gathering resources for an April 2009 conference and related publications around the missions and methods that collectively create the conditions for an (explicitly compassionate) philanthropic web.

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Reply by Nurture Girl on October 30, 2008:

Thanks for opening the conversation Christine. I have been hoping to integrate several fronts of my own striving for social action. First is philanthropy. I have been writing about the sector, especially around innovation, for 5 years. And given what I have learned in technology, there is much we can do in social media to evolve the philanthropic sector. Second is the evolution of my interest in sustainability to something much broader and positive - thrivability. I am hoping others, seeing from their angles and perspective, can help flesh out what thrivability is and how to pursue it. Third is a spiritual evolution tangled up with my coach training which compels me to sense how our being-ness needs to evolve if we want new outcomes - and that shift is about focusing on the positive, directing our driven egos toward our higher purpose, and recognizing the intertwining of doing with being. Lastly, and interest in currencies - as defined as as formalized structures for incentivizing flows in a system, and the social network analysis that needs to accompany currnecies, can be used to catalyze the shift we are attempting.

My hope is that each of these fronts converge together, as well as bring together like-minded change agents filled with compassion, authenticity, and creativity to collectively co-create the structure for the change we need.

All this can be simplified to (philanthropic web + social media + sharing) (given the presence of humility + compassion + generosity) = emergence of a > consciousness + > power to take positive, efficient, and compelling action.

Note, I am also interested in transcending some of the silos in the current system where grassroots action happens so far from great financial giving as if they were entirely different. We need to evolve spectrums and ecologies rather than creating artificial boundaries which prevent people from converging on issues and opportunities of mutual interest. It is the difference between zoos and the natural world. And these cages do not serve us if we are able to go beyond ego - and those in philanthropy are well primed for this leap.

Thank you again for being a path-sister Christine. And I am eager to see what we can attract and create together for the common good.