I have a glancing relationship with the politics and poetics of philanthropy, as gained through my brief stint earlier this year working part-time at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a non-profit whose livelihood is absolutely dependent on financial gifts. That relationship is about to deepen: part of my job at the boarding school where I will be teaching in the fall is to help expand its development program. The how and why of giving and getting the dollars of private individuals and philanthropic institutions is a fascinating subject, and also, in the wake of growing curiosity about just what it might mean to have a Heinz riding shotgun to Kerry's presidency, an increasingly important one. And yet, before last week, there were no philanthropy blogs! It was a terrible hole in the blogospheric ozone. Thankfully, that hole has now been filled. Welcome, Philanthropoid! May you blog long and prosper.

Hi Erin, I am not sure that Philanthropoid is the only philanthropic blogger. I'll be writing more, but go here:

http://www.gifthub.org/

for more.

L:iz,

Thanks for this! What a treasure trove.

yet more:

About Social Edge
Social Edge is a lively and provocative online community for the social sector. It's a place for an empowered community of socially minded individuals committed to changing the world to convene.

Social Edge is a program of the Skoll Foundation and was inspired by Jeff Skoll's commitment to connecting people with shared passions. The Skoll Foundation is working with Partners to mold this community and advance the social sector.

http://skoll.socialedge.org/?14@229.9Saiahlqb3D.4@.ee855da

Re: gifthub... I second that emotion! Treasure-trove, indeed! If I'd managed to track it down before starting my own blogging, I would never have been so bold as to claim "firsties" ...

I'll be writing more tomorrow, but for now, mea culpa for leading you to inaccuracies. And many thanks to Liz for another great resource to add to my bookmarks.

Nice site. Keep up the good work.