Razoo Speed Granting

First a meta note. Sorry traffic is slow the last day or two. As I mentioned, I've got book deadlines and Yearly Kos this week, so posting will be slow or come in sharp staccato blasts like this and the previous post. Normal blogging will resume on Sunday.

Also, apologies for the comment spam lately. Those crafty spammers have outwitted our filter and I'm trying to keep them off the site as best I can. If you see a comment called "people," stay away. (Unless you are into online gambling and natural male enhancement, in which case, dive in).

Now, onto the real stuff.

Check out this cool little new FaceBook App: Razoo Speed Granting.

From what I can tell, it's sort of Digg.com meets the Causes App. Razoo sets up mini "granting periods." The first (and current) granting period is open, later grants will have themes. Anyone can submit a proposal. Once a certain number of folks vote for, or "validate," a proposal, it becomes visible on the site for public voting. At the end of the granting period, votes are tallied and the winner is awarded the prize.

I can't quite figure out Razoo's angle. They say they are doing this to promote social entrepreneurship, but are they funded by a philanthropic angel? A Foundation? Will they try to make money off this some way, or is it truly altruistic? What counts as a "legitimate" project? Lot's of questions, but potentially a cool little App to help folks bootstrap something small or contribute more money to a cause than you and your social network (coordinating voting) might be able to give out of pocket.

Worth checking out. I just voted for the Youth Policy Action Network.