Hi Taran the NGO world is much like the corporate world. Some businesses are still born, others have a short and troubled life and most have a short life when considered within the span of human existance. The same holds for NGO's and orgs which have, as their markets, the funding sources, governmental and foundational. These customers must determine how and when to spend their money also. And, in the world of international development, they are fickle consumers, much like folks seeking the latest business management models. If one method doesn't work, there is always another possibility. The "digital divide" is the current darling of a certain community, much like many of the business management books that have been on the tables of the book stores.
As was mentioned on this list, Microsoft just did a massive project in Jamaica. Public/private partnerships are an interesting model. Its hard to keep one's heart pure (linux and the 100 computer vs the computer giants) and, at the same time, meet one's development goals. So, maybe the best way is to seek funds from a private sector partner who has similar interests. After all, there was a massive conference putting the private sector and the development community together. And, a corporate expenses account can dwarf a foundational funding. With the growth of the SRI (sociall responsible investments) and CSR (corporate social responsibility) movements on the rise- maybe foundations and government agencies aren't the obvious partnerships. And if there are concerns regarding these partnerships, maybe one should reassess the idea of ICT4D (after all, there is probably "Intel Inside"). thoughts? tom abeles Original Message: ----------------- From: Taran Rampersad [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 17:23:56 -0600 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [DDN] Educating the philanthropic community Dan Bassill wrote: >We started this discussion following the announcement that the DDN was not >raising enough money to pay for a very valuable staff member. My >suggestions are focused on educating the people who we need to provide funds >for intermediaries like the DDN and strategies that might be deployed to >achieve this goal. These are adults, business leaders, foundation leaders, >voters, not children. > >The challenges of how we educate kids and what's working or not working are >another discussion which needs to be fully explored using the Internet as a >meeting place. > >I don't think we've solved the problem that we started the discussion with. > > I don't think we can, but I am certainly learning a bit more about the culture of 'the funded world'. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran Coming on January 1st, 2006: http://www.OpenDepth.com "Criticize by creating." Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
