February 19, 2012 | Read Time: 4 minutes
How has the Internet changed grant making?
Most grant makers start to answer that question by describing online grant reporting or their foundation’s Facebook and Twitter feeds. Others detail their support of their grantee’s innovative online efforts such as a new social-media campaign or a cutting-edge Web site.
Neither of those approaches is enough. The Internet and wireless technologies are so profoundly changing our world that effective grant makers need to re-evaluate their strategies or risk becoming the philanthropic equivalent of Blockbuster Video.
You remember Blockbuster Video. It was the ubiquitous shopping-center staple that filed for bankruptcy last year—it’s still in business and may even make a comeback, but it’s irrelevant now. Foundations, of course, can’t file for bankruptcy, but no foundation wants to become irrelevant.
Blockbuster failed to react to two major Internet-driven changes. First the growing popularity of the Internet made a flat-rate online-ordering service (Netflix) possible. That was followed by high-speed Internet, which has made streaming video a reality. Not reacting quickly enough to these advances doomed Blockbuster to irrelevance.
I worry that too many of us in philanthropy are stuck behind the times in much the same way as Blockbuster, failing to recognize that causes like health care, education, human services, and civic activism will be far more affected by public-policy decisions about technology than by the next innovation brought about by the iPad or Facebook.
Sure, many people in philanthropy understand that technology changes now under way are as momentous as those brought on by the printing press, the telephone, or television.
But the speed at which this shift is driving massive change around the world can make even the most tech savvy of us feel a little dizzy. And for those among us who remember sending faxes or even writing memos on our typewriters, it can be downright disorienting. I think that’s one reason so many people focus on how to use the newest tool, like Twitter, and much less on what technology changes mean to the very foundations of their grant-making programs.
Where should a grant maker start?
First, look beyond the noise. It’s easy to get distracted by the latest new tool or gadget (Twitter, Facebook, iPad, or Wikipedia) and lose sight of the bigger picture.
A lot of great resources are available to help grant makers learn about how best to use social media, the Internet, and other emerging technologies—but it doesn’t take knowing how to use the latest Internet or wireless fad to understand how to bring grant making into the 21st century. Instead, foundation workers need to understand how the basic structure of communications technologies could determine the success or failure of a grant-making approach.
The structure of the Internet is constantly in motion. The town square, newspaper, library, telephone, television, mail, government services, and more have moved online—but that does not mean legal rights and protections that we took for granted in the physical world are the same in the virtual world.
And as policy makers grapple with the best ways to regulate online activity, it will be up to foundations and nonprofits to look out for the interests of those who can’t afford high-priced lobbyists and big-dollar influence campaigns.
Those decisions have major implications for every issue foundations focus on, so all grant makers should take the time to determine how they apply to their plans and strategies.
One example of a structural Internet issue that will have long-reaching impact for many of the causes foundations support is often referred to as “net neutrality.”
That term is used to describe the principle that Internet service providers—typically big communications corporations like AT&T or Comcast—can’t favor some content over other content.
Communications companies would like to change that approach and start charging fees to sell fast delivery to the highest bidders. If allowed, the companies will permit what a Verizon spokesman referred to as “the people’s Internet” to remain unimproved while upgrading a high-speed network for use by big businesses and those who can pay. Obviously, how this issue is resolved will have major ramifications for all types of nonprofits.
Other key structural Internet issues focus on access. Because of the Internet’s centrality in modern communications and information, access to the Internet has become necessary for a person to gain access to opportunity—economic, educational, health care, artistic, and civic opportunity.
The line delineating two Americas has become more broadly drawn: those who have reliable, fast access to the Internet and those who do not. The challenges we will face in a society divided between the digital haves and have-nots will be increasingly profound.
When exploring what those issues might mean, grant makers should ask themselves and their grantees: How much does your strategy depend on the Internet and wireless networks? What parts of it are essential? What changes in the current Internet structure and levels of access would be game changers (positive and negative)?
It’s not the easiest process to get started on—but it’s an important one. Starting with these questions will get grant makers on the right foot and lead them away from becoming the Blockbuster video of philanthropy.
