As someone who is the same age as Mark Zuckerberg, I really don’t see the line anymore where traditional organizational activity ends and online activity begins. I think that’s where many nonprofits still hold themselves back… not only do they view tech savvy as a young person’s ability, but they continue to think that online communication happens in a separate place—one that they can choose to be inside or outside of.

Google alone has proven that’s no longer the case. Everything, in a sense, is online and available in a flat, highly connected way. The internet is no longer the place you “go to” or “sign on” to access finite information. Young people simply understand this more intuitively, and therefore (to Trista’s point about the web seeming like a “gimmick” to nonprofits) they also engage with it more authentically.

It will be difficult for nonprofits to benefit from online technology in the same ways until this new kind of thinking is reflected in their staff, boards, and volunteers. In my mind, that hurdle is bigger and probably more important than helping nonprofits understand the technical/”how-to” aspects of using online tools like blogs, social networking sites, etc.

But that’s OK. Keep trying to get the people around you to adopt newish tech. But don’t get frustrated, you can’t turn them into early adopters. They’ll get on board as time goes by.

I find I’m increasingly frustrated lately by assumptions that youth = technological skill (and therefore age = inability to learn tech skills).

The philanthropy sector is, I must say, on the older end of the scale in terms of the people in it. At times it feels like I’m constantly fighting a battle to convince the people in it that they *are* actually capable of using this ‘new’ technology; it’s just a matter of learning, and what you need to learn is no different no matter what age you are!

I think what is a gimmick is the idea that online tools can just be thrown up on the web and donations will pour in. As if the existence of a website or blog was all that was needed.

Implementing online tools is really hard, just like all of the other work that nonprofits and foundations do. It is not some easy path to success, but I think these tools will be powerful competitive advantages to the organizations that implement them well.

“You can donate money to a charity, but it seems like it just goes into a pile and you never know what really goes on there,” says Mr. Alamo, the Kiva lender. “With Kiva, you just pick someone out and lend to them directly and watch what they do and how they succeed. That was the main appeal.”

I would guess that Gen X & Y are both, as a group, relatively distrustful of large organizations’ ability to affect change. The direct connection that Kiva draws is compelling. There are pros and cons with direct gifting, but I think that social media tools allow for organizations to create a more direct relationship with their donors, regardless of whether their appeal is for a direct gift or for overhead.

This isn’t like past generations, it’s totally different. I had a huge pile of extra cash when I was 23, for crying out loud. And I hadn’t even started a business or struck it rich or done anything else crazy - I was just a finance dude. I had tons of friends in the same spot, and as information becomes more valuable relative to labor, and incomes become even more lopsided, this is going to become a bigger deal.

The question is, who’s going to get those young kids from “pile of money” to “giving?” It’s not at all safe to assume that the set of techniques that works on other generations is what works on them.