So here's a question for you: What do Joe Stiglitz, Nobel prize winning economist, and the folks who blog at Iraq the Model have in common? Answer: you gotta read to the end.

It's a standard comment about blogs that their combination of immediacy and linking to a broader network gives bloggers and readers a direct sense of participation, social connection, and an almost proprietary interest in the informal community of shared information and conversation. Those factors have made blogging enormously attractive for areas such as tech developments and political news and opinion, especially in a campaign year. But there are undoubtedly other niches of human activity that will benefit from the particular characteristics of blogs.

Here's one I think is going to become very important -- philanthropy. People are frustrated with handing over contributions to faceless intermediaries like United Way, which have also lost quite a lot of credibility with the various scandals that have popped up with some frequency. Even giving to a specific organization, whether a charity or an alumni association, often feels detached. How is my money being put to good use, not just in the sense of a financial accounting (although that's certainly welcome assurance that my money's not lining the pockets of some charity's executive or good buddies), but how is it making a difference in the lives of the folks it's helping or in contributing to some goals I think are sufficiently important that I take out my checkbook.

Blogs (and affiliated websites) present a new way to bring back the sense of direct connection that's missing in the professionalization of philanthropy these days. Instead of an anonymous direct mail solicitation (or heaven forbid, a telemarketing call), the blogs can link people who are already interested in a particular issue area, part of the world, or institution with the opportunity to support directly something they care about. And even more important, rather than receiving, if you're lucky, an occasional newsletter or "giving report," blogs can give donors the chance to follow what's happening, to communicate about the project or institution with other supporters who share similar interests, even maybe communicate with the people who are benefiting from the financial contribution.

I've thought about this occasionally because two of my former colleagues have created a web-based charitable network called Global Giving, which allows individuals and corporations to contribute to projects in the developing world, especially some of the grassroots initiatives that are exploring new ways of making a difference in health, education and entrepreneurship, especially for women. It's been fascinating to watch how their initiative has evolved over the couple of years they've been at it, and I think they're just scratching the surface.

Now comes a terrific example from praktke of the potential power of blogging to link those with a passionate concern and the people who need passionate support. It was posted at Tacitus, and I copy it here in full.

I just gave $50, and I'm a congenital pessimist about Iraq. But it feels good to do something concrete. I know many of you folks in the private sector make far more than I do, so get out your wallets and give to a good cause.

"Friends of Democracy" - The Iraq Democracy Project

We are supporting efforts by Iraqis inside Iraq that have two main goals: (1) increase voter participation in Iraq's January 2 election; and (2) encourage the Iraqi people to make informed decisions on the candidates. Some of the projects that will be supported (with direct funding, equipment and technical assistance) under this initiative include:

• Production of radio and television Public Service Announcements by the Iraq Ministry of Women's Affairs to encourage women to vote.
• Securing the rights to and subtitling in Arabic documentaries about elections in post-dictatorship countries for broadcast in Iraq. For example, "Milosevic: Bringing Down a Dictator."
• Providing $1,000 microgrants to 150 Iraqi women community leaders identified by the Iraqi Women's Educational Institute. The grants will be used for grass roots pro-democracy projects created by the women.
• Production and broadcast of citizen roundtables and townhall meetings.
• Support for Iraqi intellectuals who wish to publish and create public dialog on constitutionalism and the new Iraqi constitution. This is similar to the role of the Federalist Papers in the development of the United States.
• Creation and hosting of an Arabic blogging tool to enable more free voices to be heard.
• Support of a network of pro-democracy student groups and community organizations called "Friends of Democracy" by providing Internet access, blog hosting, copiers and paper.

If you're interested in learning more about the sponsoring group, Spirit of America, and what they've been doing in Afghanistan and Iraq, go see their blog and website of course. But you can also read this Wall Street Journal article on the Friends of Democracy project.

I'm especially interested in the fact Friends of Democracy focuses on voices that would otherwise have difficulty being heard: women and younger people, especially the bloggers like the Iraq the Model guys. And this is bottom-up, not top-down, empowerment of the best type. I know from experience working in transition countries, that early projects can have an enormous impact by creating a group of locals who truly feel empowered. The best assistance projects were those that gave self-selecting people an opportunity to get involved with a field they were already very interested in, where they were exposed to new ways of thinking about and approaching problems, learned about tools they could use, and then helped adapt those tools to the local environment. Whether the field was law, banking, education, pensions, or health, many of the participants in these projects have turned into real leaders -- people who are still contributing in important ways to their society.

One of the things I find terrific about the blog/web initiatives is that changing the medium of communicating with potential donors seems to unleash all sorts of other innovations as well. Clearly, much of how Spirit of America is planning to support democracy is very innovative, although it certainly draws on some of the positive experiences various democracy-promoting organizations have had in other countries.

One of the more imaginative innovations is Global Giving's gift card, which lets you make a donation in the name of someone else as a gift to them. The recipient of your gift is given the links needed to follow the project via the web.

So in case you were worrying about what to get Joe Stiglitz for a wedding present -- the Stiglitz-Schiffrin wedding registry is at Global Giving.