What Failed Dot-Coms Can Show Charities

January 24, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute

A new report argues that charities can learn from the mistakes of failed dot-coms and build Internet ventures that serve a social purpose and earn revenue for their organizations.

“After the Bubble: Investing in Internet-Based Social Enterprise in Challenging Times” identifies seven Internet business categories, such as Internet software for nonprofit organizations and online training; offers examples of nonprofit ventures in each category; and discusses the pros and cons of each type of venture. The report also offers advice for grant makers on how to evaluate charities’ proposals for Internet enterprises.

The report was written by Jason A. Scott, a nonprofit consultant who has also worked in the technology industry, with financing from the Atlantic Philanthropies, in Hamilton, Bermuda, and the Flatiron Foundation, in New York.

To get there: Go to http://www.techrocks.org/pubs/InternetSocialEnterprise.pdf.

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About the Author

NICOLE WALLACE

Features Editor

Nicole Wallace is features editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has written about innovation in the nonprofit world, charities’ use of data to improve their work and to boost fundraising, advanced technologies for social good, and hybrid efforts at the intersection of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, such as social enterprise and impact investing.Nicole spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and reported from India on the role of philanthropy in rebuilding after the South Asian tsunami. She started at the Chronicle in 1996 as an editorial assistant compiling The Nonprofit Handbook.Before joining the Chronicle, Nicole worked at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and served in the inaugural class of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.A native of Columbia, Pa., she holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.