A new report “Philanthropy and Social Media” is intended to provide an introduction to social media for philanthropic organizations and individuals interested in the potential of social media for achieving impact.

In the report, released by the Institute for Philanthropy, Knight Foundation is profiled as an active and early investor in social media.   For the foundation’s profile, Mayur Patel, vice president of strategy and assessment at Knight Foundation, explains how the foundation’s investment in social media projects grew out of the its journalism and media innovation program: 

“We realised that technology was not just disrupting the way people connect to information, it was also changing the way communities connect to each other.”

Patel also identifies the foundation’s two goals in funding social media projects. The first is focusing on how the information needs of communities distribute, gather and participate in the creation of information and knowledge. The second is how to invest in projects that facilitate community engagement through technology.

Foundation initiatives such as the Knight News Challenge, the Knight Community Information Challenge and its Technology for Engagement program speak directly to these goals. The foundation also recently blogged about why Knight Foundation uses social media as a strategy to become a better grantmaker. The paper was produced by the Indigo Trust and authored by Daisy Wakefield and Aphra Sklair with input from Andy Gibson. The Indigo Trust, The Barr Foundation, Localgiving.com, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Omidyar Network and the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts are also profiled.