Bill Gates unplugged | Video on TED.com
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bill_gates_unplugged.html

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"Bill Gates hopes to solve some of the world's biggest problems using a new kind of philanthropy. In a passionate and, yes, funny 18 minutes, he asks us to consider two big questions and how we might answer them." Annoyingly good. Truly understands the issues he's looking to solve.

From charitable online games to gifts, and more, here are over 50 digitally-adept ways to give back this holiday season.

Will help in analysing the use of social media in social causes.

site de dons

Summer of Social Good is the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds through the power of Social Media and the Internet.

Site of social fundraising on twitter

Summer of Social Good is the first large scale online charitable campaign to raise funds strictly online through the power of Social Media and the Internet. The goal is to use the power of "Social Influence" via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Blogs and other online media to raise an unprecedented amount for our fund benefiting The Humane Society, LIVESTRONG, Oxfam America and WWF from June 1st until August 28th, 2009. This is the first "Social Media for Social Good" initiative by Mashable, The Social Media Guide. Please stay tuned to Mashable.com for more information, updates, calendar and special announcements. 100% of funds raised will be donated to charity through the Summer of Social Good fund. All proceeds will be split equally between our four charities. Learn more by clicking on the logos below or clicking next.

Twitter has been hailed as an incredibly useful marketing tool for businesses and brands, both big and small, to disseminate information and engage with consumers on a massive scale. But what about non-profits? The ability to use social media to fundraise for charitable purposes has been questionable. A few months ago, the Washington Post reported that Causes, one of Facebook’s popular applications used by non-profits to raise money, was not netting much money for charities, despite its large amount of users (according to the application’s page, it has 26 million monthly users).

Fundraising + Twitter = Tweetraising

It seems foolproof: nonprofits using the power of the Internet to raise money through a clever Facebook application. After all, the Web earned gobs of cash for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. And besides, going online means sending fewer fundraising letters, which makes it appealing to penny-pinchers and environmentalists alike. But it turns out that approach doesn't always work

Only a tiny fraction of the 179,000 nonprofits that have turned to Causes as an inexpensive and green way to seek donations have brought in even $1,000, according to data available on the Causes developers' site. The application allows Facebook users to list themselves as supporters of a cause on their profile pages. But fewer than 1 percent of those who have joined a cause have actually donated money through that application.

It seems foolproof: nonprofits using the power of the Internet to raise money through a clever Facebook application. After all, the Web earned gobs of cash for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. And besides, going online means sending fewer fundraising letters, which makes it appealing to penn...

"The Facebook application Causes, hugely popular among nonprofit organizations seeking to raise money online, has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions. "

Washington Post - articolo sulla efficacia dello strumento causes di facebook per il non profit

always one step ahead ; http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49b1654a-ed60-11dd-bd60-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

"By contrast, Soros sees the current crisis as a real-life illustration of reflexivity. Markets did not reflect an objective “truth”. Rather, the beliefs of market participants – that house prices would always rise, that an arcane financial instrument based on a subprime mortgage really could merit a triple-A rating – created a new reality. Ultimately, that “super-bubble” was unsustainable, hence the credit crunch of 2007 and the recession and financial crisis of 2008 and beyond."

Sort of like the Volunteering 5to9 idea I explored after 2gether08 last year...

philanthropy showcase. started by hollywood ppl

via Frank - this is Edward Norton's group fundraising site

Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends. My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest. Both my children and I won what I call the ovarian lottery.

Warren Buffett has committed to giving away 99% of his wealth. Now, he explains his thinking in this remarkable op-ed.

"Fate's distribution of long straws is wildly capricious." - Warren Buffett / I have huge respect for this man. http://bit.ly/dlgWg4