[Foundation-l] Seat and Donations (SPLIT from: EFF & Bitcoins)

Fri Jun 24 01:46:00 UTC 2011

On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 5:36 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> It is not good enough to just do things right, you need
> to be seen to do things right.

I just can't emphasize Thomas's point enough.   I spent a lot of words
trying to say what he was able to say in a single sentence.

It isn't enough to get the right answer-- you have to be overtly seen
to be getting the right answer via the right process.  There are
millions of us participating, and we want that number to be hundreds
of millions or more.   Not millions of viewers, millions of
participants and 'shareholders'.

That means that in some ways, we have to think more like a government
than like a non-profit corporation.    I cringe when I say that,
because I know there ware a LOT of negative baggage that comes with
that.  But it's true.   We're an organization that interacts with
millions and millions of people in a way that has never before been
possible in human history.

That means we have to do things a little differently, sometimes, than
a traditional nonprofit might.   By and large, I think our leaders
have done a marvelous job of  adapting the structure of a "non-profit
corporation" to meet our needs at the time.   We just have to always
remember that we don't just "publish a product", we aid a movement--
and that brings a very different set of challenges.

:)  We're learning, and there's also a widespread understanding that
we need a "new openness" to spark more involvement.   I predict a good
year full of amazing innovation.

Alec