Project: LocalNonprofits (Read and Rate, Please)

We’ve applied for a Knight News Challenge Grant—LocalNonprofits —that we want you to rate and comment on. Here’s why. Coming out of Madison Nonprofit Day, one of the things that we were made consistently aware of was: Individuals and even organizations trying to connect with Madison’s nonprofit community feel isolated. From job seekers, to potential volunteers, to many of the staff at organizations—small and large. The two things that participants seemed to value the most about the day, were:

1. the ability to meet and interact with other nonprofit professionals; and
2. the ability to meet and interact to other nonprofit organizations.

These two things were mentioned time and time again. So much so, that we started looking at the hows and whys of the fragmentation of the nonprofit community in Madison. We came up with a number of theories, which ranged from the lack of a nonprofit management center to institutional silos (each which would require its own line of research to prove or disprove). But while we were brainstorming and debating, we came up with this actionable idea:

Make the news and information that nonprofits want easily accessible to them.

It’s a simple idea, yet so frequently when people attempt to address it, it gets converted. The one thing that traditional media has taught us, and keep trying to inform us is that the news needs gatekeepers. There’s too much information, you need trusted sources, people to safeguard your interested. We looked at the idea and stated, “We did, in some areas maybe we still do. But generally speaking, that time has past.”

With geographical boundaries (Madison/the Greater Madison Area) and community specification (local nonprofits) as our primary limitations, why not make accessible ALL the nonprofit news. From job postings to research findings to event listings, LocalNonprofits was the idea—it’s all your local nonprofit news and information at a single site. Centralize it, make it portable—email, real simple syndication (RSS), mobile, SMS, etc.— make it interactive, allowing individuals to rate, comment, promote, and share it; it’s the news focused.

The goal is to create a central source where people can find the news and information as it relates to Madison’s nonprofit community. So besides headline news, press releases, profiles of people and organizations of interest; you’d find research published by nonprofits, nonprofit jobs, event information, requests for proposals, group meetings, and news that affects nonprofits.

We’ve taken this idea an applied for a Knight Foundation News Challenge Grant. We want you to read our application and rate it please. The more people who rate the better our opportunity to continue to stage two of the application process. So please go to the News Challenge website and rate our proposal: LocalNonprofits. It’s just one step of many for strengthening Madison’s nonprofit community.

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Read at Source:   Madison Nonprofit Day

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