I have been looking at the squidoo list of 59 NP's and this one really has something special. What I like about the concept is the transparency of one's contribution. A member is actually a lender. They are able to select an entreprenuer from the 'working poor' internationally and then finance the fledgling company. The company pays back the loan over time.
http://www.kiva.org/?page=lender&action=view&name=matt&rdr

Why/how could this model be adapted to work with ET? Philanthropy is at the heart of every volunteer but even volunteers need some reassurance of thir actions. KIVA posts images of the small businesses and below the image they have something akin to a loading bar. It shows how much of the loan has been repaid. 'lenders' can manage their contributions by visually seeing their progress.

How could we measure/display the contributions of edtech members? Just food for thought. It would also fuel contributions from larger sources by indicating the level of member participation.

Another Wikipedia quote, Service-learning combines experiential learning and community service opportunities. It can be distinguished in the following ways:

Curricular connections- Integrating learning into a service project is key to successful service-learning. Academic ties should be clear and build upon existing disciplinary skills. Can you define some service projects withing ed bridges or ask others to identify some?

Student voice - Beyond being actively engaged in the project itself, students have the opportunity to select, design, implement, and evaluate their service activity, encouraging relevancy and sustained interest. In community settings, this is alternatively called youth voice. Isn't this what you are doing?

Reflection - Structured opportunities are created to think, talk, and write about the service experience.(authentic literacy) The balance of reflection and action allows a student to be constantly aware of the impact of their work. Hmm, sounds like a webcast to me.

Community partnerships - Partnerships with community agencies are used to identify genuine needs, provide mentorship, and contribute assets towards completing a project. In a successful partnership, both sides will give to and benefit from the project. In order for this partnership to be successful, clear guides must be implemented as to how often a student engages in service to a particular community agency. All of the active webcasters lend their success to the overall success of edbridges. Tibetan Bridges, EVO...

Authentic community needs – Local community members or service recipients are involved in determining the significance and depth of the service activities involved. The edbridges community exists to expand the collective experience of all active members through service learning, reteaching and reflecting.

Assessment - Well structured assessment instruments with constructive feedback through reflection provide valuable information regarding the positive 'reciprocal learning' and serving outcomes for sustainability and replication. That's what this is, an informative assessment. Another fundemental part of your model that is working well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative
Follow the link for more...
Philosophy:Worldwide, some 800 million people are members of cooperatives, and it is estimated that cooperatives employ some 100 million people.

Co-operatives have been presented as an ideal organisational form for proponents of a number of socio-political philosophies, including Co-operative Individualism and Co-operative Federalism; such literature often cites the achievement of a Co-operative Commonwealth as an ultimate objective. The cooperative movement often has links and associations with Green politics or Socialist politics, with socially responsible investing, and with the social enterprise movement.

"A cooperative (also coöperative or co-operative or co-op) has been defined in the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) Statement on the Co-operative Identity as "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise."[1] They "are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others."[2] Such enterprises are the focus of study in the field of Co-operative economics."

http://www.ucsf.edu/aetcnec/evaluation/Connolly_CapacityBuilding_02.pdf

This report demonstrates the need for using grant $ to support the nonprofit infrastucture in it's capacity building efforts.

Mission, vision and strategy give the nonprofit organization a purpose.

Whereas a for-profit company has the goal of earning profit, a nonprofit has the goal, program delivery and impact are looked at to measure the success of a nonprofit.

I stumbled upon this article and was compelled to read it in its' entirety. Here is the bio of the author:
"Matthew Richter is a former performance editor for this newspaper. He has founded four successful nonprofit organizations, including Consolidated Works, the contemporary arts center in Seattle. He is the recipient of the Safeco Rudy Award (for the nonprofit director of the year), the Mayor's Arts Award, and was recently described by Art in America as "an arts visionary." He is currently designing and building custom furniture under the moniker xom."

The link to this article:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=31920

After reading this article it made me wonder what other alternative model might exist. The author proposes one but it isn't currently a legal opeion. His insight into non profits is based on personal experience and expertise. Listen to this man! The food for thought may be seen as bitter herb.

http://www.carvergovernance.com/pg-np.htm
Options described.

http://www.managementhelp.org/np_progs/np_mod/orgs_crs.htm

As mentioned in my subject above. Kathy. You rock.

dave.

I too would love to become part of this project.

Glad to hear it. You're more than welcome to the team. Please add your name to the 'roles inside the organization' page.