Web 2.0 fails to bring big bucks for any sector

The venerable Financial Times has an article describing how so-called Web 2.0 technologies have failed to result in significant profits for the new wave of Internet companies.

This has two distinct implications for the non-profit sector. First, it is a reminder not to invest too much of your organizations resources in one Internet company. The articles quotes Roger Lee, "'There is going to be a shake-out here in the next year or two' as many Web 2.0 companies disappear." If you heavily use web services, ensure that there is a way to export any mission critical data and do so as part of a backup strategy.

The larger implication for non-profits is the exact same as for-profits: making money is hard to do online. While this blog would not exist if not for the author's belief in the potential of online fundraising, it is often a sobering experience when revenue projections that would be reasonable for offline strategies are missed in an online campaign.