Come On In. The Water's Fine.
An Exploration of Web 2.0 Technology and its Emerging Impact on Foundation Communications

Produced for the Communications Network
Made possible by support from The California Endowment, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Daniels Scholars on Facebook: The Daniels Fund
The Daniels Fund provides scholarships to college-bound high school graduates and non-traditional students with financial need in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. They found they were struggling with the best way to communicate with their scholars. They also wanted to encourage a community of Daniels Scholars. E-mail and posting information on their own Web site wasn’t working well enough. After researching their options, they created a community in Facebook. This case study will explore a foundation’s use of social networking to communicate with their grantees and build community. What have been the advantages of using an established service like Facebook? What are the risks and how has the foundation managed them? What has the response been? Read the case study here.

Camino a la Universidad: Lumina Foundation
The Lumina Foundation for Education “strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access to and success in education beyond high school.” One of the priority populations for Lumina initiatives are Latinos, as Lumina recognizes there is a higher education access and attainment gap among this population. In their Camino a la Universidad initiative, Lumina produced an interactive, multimedia report on the research about Latinos and higher education and made it engaging, interactive, and sharable. This case study will explore how Lumina is disseminating information in these creative, interactive ways. Who is consuming this information? How is Lumina measuring reach and influence? Have they been able to reach new audiences? Read the case study here.

Pioneering Ideas Blog: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
In August 2006, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched a blog called “Pioneering Ideas” for their Pioneer portfolio. The Pioneer portfolio “aims to support novel, high-return ideas that may have far-reaching impact on people's health, the quality of care they receive and the systems through which that care is provided.” True to the spirit of this program, which seeks ideas from outside of healthcare as well as within, the Pioneering Ideas blog has run continuously since August 2006. This case study will explore what RWJF learned from the ideas, discussion and feedback on this blog. We will describe how they have managed the blog to maintain a civil conversation. And finally, how has the blog influenced or changed the way the foundation communicates? Read the case study here.

Second Life: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
One of the most talked-about events related to philanthropy and new media has been The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's entry into the virtual world of Second Life. Recognizing that virtual worlds were very likely a new frontier for mobilizing support and action around issues of the public good, the foundation made a series of grants to explore the potential role philanthropy could play in virtual worlds. This case study examines the communications implications of this initiative. How has operating in a virtual world changed the way the foundation communicates? Has their experience in Second Life influenced the way they communicate outside of Second Life? What have been the lessons learned about communicating in a virtual world? Read the case study here.