Michael Gilbert is an internationally known consultant to foundations and nonprofits, an innovator in the field of nonprofit technology and communication, an influential author and editor, and a social entrepreneur.
Michael has played a long and seminal role in the development of the field of nonprofit technology. He delivered the opening keynote address at the very first Silicon Valley Conference on Nonprofits and Technology. He was the Founding President of the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) and helped lead it through the period when it gained the critical trust of its key communities. He built a nonprofit technology company during the boom and helped several such companies survive afterwards.
Michael was the Editor of, and contributed to, the Journal of Information Technology and Social Change, the Journal of Networks and Civil Society, The Campaign Cookbook: A Manual for Grassroots Education and Mobilization, Communication Centered Technology Planning, The Guide to Nonprofit Email, 21st Century Fundraising Resources, 21st Century Collaboration Resources, and 21st Century Effectiveness Resources. He continues to be the Editor and Publisher of Nonprofit News (formerly Nonprofit Online News), a leading newsletter of the field.
Michael is the author of hundreds of articles, including: The Sociotechnical Renaissance, The Side-Effect Principle, Networks of Trust, The Direct Mail Addiction, Five Ways Tech Projects Fail, Toward Network-Centric Philanthropy, The Permeable Organization, An Open Letter to Nonprofit Technology Funders, The Email Savvy Organization, Narcissistic Nonprofit Newsletters, Why Websites Fail, and The Gilbert Email Manifesto.
He has been a popular speaker with many organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Planned Parenthood, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Nonprofit Technology Network, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the Kellogg Action Lab, and many others.
Michael is an indefatigable social innovator. His article on the structured syndication of grant content led to the creation of Grantsfire, now a project of The Foundation Center. The innovations from Social Ecology, his bleeding-edge nonprofit software company, are still being replicated throughout the sector. He started blogging in April 1997, making him one of only two bloggers who are still publishing from then. He is often credited with helping ignite a revolution in nonprofit communication practice with his research and writing on email in the first half of the oughts.
Michael has directed numerous groundbreaking research projects; including the Nonprofit Site Analyzer Reports, the First Nonprofit Email Survey, the Nonprofit Email Studies, Doing Well by Doing Good: A Report on Work Satisfaction in Civil Society, as well as many private studies. He is currently completing a large scale study on the topic of evidence-based practices in philanthropy.
Michael has served as Executive Director or Chief Executive of six organizations, as a board member or officer of more than thirty, and as a communication and management consultant to over 1500 organizations in more than two dozen countries over the last three decades. He was born in Sweden, lives and works in Seattle, and counts Berlin as his home away from home. He’s also indentured as Captain to a sailboat named Melange, and in his spare time, he’s a tango dancer.