Paul Buchheit is the created of Gmail and Adsense and has set up collaborative process to get advice on how he should donate "a bunch of money."   He isn't relying on the traditional approach of asking an expert, but wants to crowdsource suggestions through social networks.  As he writes on his blog:

One of the great things about the Internet (other than the obvious) is
that it enables people to collaborate in new ways, and each contribute
little bits of their time and knowledge. Wikipedia is probably the best
example of this, but I think it's possible to do much more. I'm not
quite sure how to make this work, but I expect that in 10 years we will
have much smarter "collective" systems that leverage small bits of
time, knowledge, etc from large groups.

This is my first
experiment in solving this problem. Actually, in some ways it's my
second experiment -- a few months ago I posed a question about the "best use of money",
and although it was only meant as a thought experiment, people also
provided a lot of specific suggestions. That was rather encouraging.

Here's how it works:

• The money MUST go to an IRS recognized public charity. No exceptions.
• Don't contact me. I already don't read the email I have -- I don't need more.
• I've created a topic on Google Moderator where people can submit and vote on ideas. I've never used Google Moderator, but someone told me that it's good, so hopefully it works :)
• Ultimately, this is just a recommendation and I may completely ignore the results if they are stupid, so don't bother spamming.
• I also created a group on FriendFeed where people can submit links and discuss ideas.
• I'd
  like to see broad support (from real people, not spam accounts) along
  with some evidence that it's a good idea, and perhaps endorsements from
  knowledgeable people.

I've suggested my favorite charity, the Sharing Foundation by adding an entry on Google Moderator.   Have a charity you think Paul should consider?  Why not add it to the list.

It will be interesting to see how this experiment works.  Is this a peek into the future of major donors?   

Beth Kanter, Blogher CE for Nonprofits, writes Beth's Blog.