I wanted to point out this great blog – Mostly Maurice. It’s a caustic and realistic perspective on development in Africa. One of my favorite posts is this one on Donor Dumping.
blogs
Sunday night blog round-up
The Thirsty Palmetto is pondering why she chose the life she did. A very candid look at what motivates aid workers – beyond idealism.
There is a whole bunch of fascinating new content up at Tworque. I particularly liked the post on TechShop.
Kevin has a bitter point about what’s happening to the developing world’s money.
And Chris Blattman is thinking about Peace Corps. (Aside: note the many lame and self-aggrandizing comments on the blog post.)
What is social media, anyway?
A nice white paper on social media. From smashLAB, this paper starts with the very basics, like defining content communities, blogs, and virtual worlds. It then goes all the way into some basic case studies and a discussion of how companies can use social media. It’s a good introduction for anyone new to the concept of social media, and the ideas apply equally well to nonprofits.
Amy Sample Ward’s Blog
Amy Sample Ward’s Version of NPTech. Amy Sample Ward’s blog is a really exceptional resource on nonprofit technology, particularly fundraising and the web. I’m sending a link to a couple old employers who could use the info.
In general, I find blogs like this really energizing because they are about what works to motivate people and bring them together, which can lead to insight on a lot more than fundraising and advocacy.
Links worth looking at
I am traveling, and I’m not sure what kind of internet access I will have to update. I’m offering up a bunch of interesting links to keep everyone busy in my (possible) absence.
1) The Children of War Rescue Project actually has a dayblog listing day-to-day activities. It is an amazing exercise in transparency, and also a great way for outsiders to learn more about what NGOs do. If you are thinking you’d like to work for an international NGO, just following along the posts is like a mini-internship.
The marketer in me thinks that they could be using this dayblog more for promotional purposes. Right now it doesn’t even have a link to their main project website. They should also explicitly describe it as an exercise in transparency, and have donors look at it to see what they do.
2) Paul Graham on the overlap between nonprofits and companies. I am consistently impressed by his ideas, and this is a great think piece on what makes a company and what makes an nonprofit. I have long held that the major difference between an international NGO and a company is tax status and no more. It is interesting to see someone else’s similar take.
3) Soap operas changing family size in Brazil. This article makes me twitch in different directions. On the one hand, it justifies the educational soap operas I used to help produce. On the other hand, what kind of unintended effects is TV having on our society? Since almost none of it is designed to do anything good. In fact it seems to me designed to make us meet more junk food and buy stuff…maybe I don’t have to just wonder what effect it is having.
Friday night blog round-up
Technology and social enterprise is reviewing the Playpump, a merry-go-round that harnesses childrens’ play to pump water from village wells.
Peter Casier is wondering if anything has gotten better in Sudan.
Shanta Devarajan has a post up about export controls on food as a response to the food price increases. Even while fearing a world food crisis, I am amused that India specifically delineates non-basmati rice.
Lastly, Chris Blattman’s got some great charts about economic recovery.
The Thirsty Palmetto
A moving blog entry about life for returning refugees in South Sudan. The Thirsty Palmetto is a new blog, but the entries which have been written really pack a punch. It’s a perfect slice-of-life, of an aid worker in South Sudan. If you’ve ever wondered what the work is like, or how it feels, follow this blog.