"If people are actually going to get engaged and stay engaged in their communities, one thing has to happen first -- they must be given more chances to connect with one another (including those they might disagree with) and figure out how they can work together for the common good."--Case Foundation

The Case Foundation's new funding initiative, Make It Your Own, will engage the public in a "citizen-centered" approach to the funding process.

Nancy Schwartz of Getting Attention lays out their selection process:

• • The Foundation is asking individuals and small, community-based nonprofits to submit ideas for strengthening their communities.
• • A group of judges will select 100 finalists to query for a more formal proposal.
• • Another panel will review these proposals to select 20 finalists, who will receive $10,000 each.
• • In November, the public will vote to select the "final four" from these finalists, who will each receive an additional $25,000.

Jason Z at the Democracy in Action blog compares it to the process used to select projects to go to the NetSquared Conference, but not necessarily in a good way :(

"A few months on from the controversial Net2 funding scrum, Case revisits similar philosophical ground with very different execution.

To begin with, it's a multi-staged process of 'managed democracy' -- you know, like we have in the political sphere, except with some democracy -- instead of the free-for-all registration-and-voting process that drew heat for Net2.

Katya Andresen encourages readers of her Non-Profit Marketing Blog to look to the Case Foundation's intiative as a role model for their own organization:

"[T]hink about how you can involve your audiences in your work. If you’re not sure they should set your direction, at least let them help you make your marketing choices."

Finally, in the The New York Times article, "Foundation Lets Public Help Award Money", published on Tuesday, writer Stephanie Strom points to citizen-centered initiatives by the MacArthur Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as the growing trend towards what Edward Skloot, former Executive Director of the Surdna Foundation calls, "philanthropopulism."

You can see a list of upcoming philantrhopic and do-good prizes/competitions/contests on Lucy Bernholz's blog, Philanthropy 2173.