“What community do you serve?” This is one of the first questions I’m asked by foundations when I make a call and ask for a meeting. I stifle a sigh and say, “Washingtonians--anyone who wants to be involved in the legislative process. In particular, though, we’re building services for citizens who are currently disengaged from the legislative process.” I know this isn’t the answer people entrusted with millions of dollars want to hear.

They want, “We serve a very specific community of ‘X-type’ people, and each year, ‘X-number’ of them walk through our doors, and with your contribution, we’ll serve ‘X-number’ of people.” They want me to say that Knowledge As Power will only help women, or young people, or Latinos, or the elderly, or Seattle residents. That just isn’t true, and it isn’t a mission worth pursuing. I wouldn’t waste foundation’s money repeating the same work of other worthy organizations.

But I understand where they’re coming from---it’s a place where finite resources meet infinite problems. Books, HIV medication, after school facilities, volunteer hours, bus passes, trees --- there is only so many that can be bought, built, or provided. And after entire careers engrossed in the cost-benefit ratio of real world non-profit services, I understand why dismayed foundation officers say, “Knowledge As Power sounds really unique, and interesting, but I just don’t think it fits what we look for.” Because, really, they look for project’s who’s capacity for change can be measured or appreciated easily; you can see where your money is going. Online, that’s not so easy.

Software and websites are not finite resources; it is not like teachers, or housing, or non-perishable food. It can be replicated without (much) cost. It can be reused millions and millions of times, it can change on a dime for almost as much. With a basic investment and a little excitement, it can be picked up and expanded by thousands of people who contribute their creativity, not their dollars. Yes, a service like Knowledge As Power costs money--you can’t get everything for free--- but what we can do with that money is serve much, much more than the traditional non-profit.

So for the online non-profit, the question is not “Who do you serve?” but “How do you serve?” The answer to that question is much more clear.

By reaching out to citizens where they are-- the public library, a concert, a low-income housing complex, the suburbs, a tack shop, a high school-- Knowledge As Power will talk with citizens about how to take action on the issues they care about. They’ll be introduced to our online services, which they can access from anywhere, and begin the process of accessing our tools for active engagement in the legislative process. We’ll serve by making the legislative-legalese understandable, we’ll serve by providing them just the information they need, we’ll serve by helping them communicate effectively with legislators, we’ll serve by connecting them to others in their community. We will serve by creating a stronger citizenry, a more accountable government, and more reflective legislation.

We can always quantify our website’s hits, the number of emails sent, or study the impact our “served” make on voting rates. But we’ll never know if it was one or one thousand Knowledge As Power user’s emails that passed a bill on health care. We’ll never know if it was the experience on KAP that led a working mom to activism, which lead her to the Senate. We’ll never know for sure how many people will stop fearing government and start seeing themselves as a part of government.

But these things--they are a service, they are a worthy mission. And I’m not giving up on achieving the mission of Knowledge As Power, regardless of how many people ask me, “Who do you serve?”