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

It’s not about the tools; it’s about the story that you are trying to tell.

– Victor d’Allant, Social Edge, The Skoll Foundation

Linda Braund, communications manager for the Heinz Endowments, says a measure of success for the foundation’s online communication efforts is to see “a vibrant grantee community.” Foundations are realizing they can be a catalyst for issue-specific, geography-specific, or research- or practice-focused conversations, in a way that isn’t burdensome to the foundation or
the grantees.

Whether convening grantees only or opening up forums for the public, Web 2.0 technologies present an opportunity to be a credible, reliable source for shared learning in a way that goes beyond the Web 1.0 “brochureware” Web site. As Albert Chung, senior communications associate of The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation put it, “I think that’s one key benefit; because it’s much more interactive, you can build upon everyone’s learning, and the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts.”

Study participants frequently cited researchers, practitioners, policy makers and other funders as key audiences and noted the value that can be added to a foundation’s brand when these audiences view the foundation as a credible source of knowledge among a broad community interested in a specific issue.

Taking this one step further, some foundations are experimenting with idea generation on the Web. One example is the “Audacious Ideas” blog by The Open Society Institute in Baltimore. OSI lines up community members and issue experts each week to post short blog entries with an idea for how to improve their city. The posting is then open for the public to comment. This has generated 5,000 registrations and 500 loyal, repeat readers who are spending enough time on the OSI Web page to read and comment regularly on the entire posting (postings often generate around 25 comments each).
The Baltimore Sun has, on several occasions, asked to reprint the blog postings in their entirety.

Debra Rubino, director of strategic communications for OSI noted that this is a new way of bringing attention to their foundations’ priorities. The blog has been quantifiably successful in terms of attracting a larger audience to their issues. However, it’s too early to know whether a blog posting will result in an idea being developed to the point of being funded.

By convening the conversation, foundations can then disseminate stories about their programs and policy priorities. Web 2.0 technologies can enhance the ability to tell those stories in a compelling way, and some nonprofits have been pioneers in this effort.

For example, Social Edge is a program of the Skoll Foundation intended to be the global online community where social entrepreneurs and other practitioners of the social benefit sector connect to network, learn, inspire and share resources. They use video extensively to tell short, compelling stories in their Global X series of X-Interviews. Social Edge also pushes them out to wider audiences through YouTube, iTunes and Yahoo! Video where they can be discovered, picked up and shared with viewers who may not otherwise find their way to the Social Edge Web site. Executive Director Victor d’Allant notes, “It’s not about the tools; it’s about the story that you are trying to tell,” and using technology to do that can help organizations compete for—and win—people’s time and attention in a cluttered and over-mediated world.