Getting on the same page...

As mentioned previously, there are some of the things that we will assume that you, our reader, will either know about or share as goals. Below are a few resources that can help us get on the same page. Lucy Bernholz has a great blog on philanthropy. Her report Disrupting Philanthropy, written in 2010, is an engaging introduction to the forces and opportunities she sees in the non-profit sector.

The Foundation Center's strategic plan - Foundation Center 2010 - is also a good resource to take a look at where current leaders think we're headed.

Our own Philanthropic Foundations Canada has a wonderful - if a bit static - newsletter that provides an overview of what's happening in the field of grantmaking. We're looking forward to their new, more dynamic website.

And Markets for Good is an initiative by the Gates Foundation to "upgrade the information infrastructure of the social sector". Check out the video and you'll have a very good idea of the day-to-day work as well as the skill sets that we have here at Ajah.

Publish What You Pay is an lobbying effort to have international development funders adopt a new format called IATI to describe their activities.

There's more, like Open Spending, OKFN and Civic Access, but these will give you enough of an idea of the topics we'll be discussing here.