I applaud you in your effort to think big, make sense of this new landscape, and find a way to serve it! I present you with some ramblings and thoughts:

It is not clear to me what the term “New Givers” encompasses? Are New Givers the organization that culls together the many donations (like Awesome Foundation), or the micro-donors themselves?

Perhaps due to my confusion of the above, I’m unable to identify what specific need(s) is/are being met by collecting these case studies/stories and weaving them into a narrative. Is it about networking? Harnessing the power of a similar community? Technical capacity building? Finding solidarity in similar lifestyles or values? Maybe if you could break out the different players/roles you see in the community and how you will serve them, I’d have a clearer sense as to why I’d fund/help you…
–> If you are having a hard time defining this need, maybe throw a quick survey together and ask the community what its pain points are?

Do you have stakeholders and champions in each of the cities you have identified? Do they, themselves, feel part of this New Giving identity? If not, is that part of the how the tour will serve this community?
–> In practical terms for Kickstarter (and I know this is probably in your plan in your head), have you estimated the size of this community? I would count on the New Giving champion community providing the bulk of funding, with their peripheral network helping out marginally. This could help you determine whether you’ll meet your goal.

How does the current movement differ or resemble the establishment of community foundations? http://www.communityfoundations.net/page14094.html
Can you learn from their travails and successes? How will New Givers distinguish themselves? (Maybe that isn’t even necessary…)

Oh- and I just re-read your email that you sent: this is AWESOME: “Basically, it’s a storytelling tour over this summer to gather case studies and other resources for all of the community philanthropy and web/mobile-powered giving projects that are happening in the US.” Maybe you should include that above?

I know you are still in gathering data mode, so I think this is a great start. For the kickstarter campaign and in wide solicitation, I would like to see this broken down more poignantly so that people completely outside the network aren’t tripped up by new jargon or abstract value.

Would be happy to talk through any of this!

I believe this is a compelling story. Why are people doing this in the depths of a recession? How can we help anyone follow their lead?

On community, yes it’s about the network. Based on what I know, people are not networking beyond their New Giving project circle. How can we build a mutual aid network?

I applaud you in your effort to think big, make sense of this new landscape, and find a way to serve it! I present you with some ramblings and thoughts:

I guess that would be my first question or point of clarification: what is the need that is being met in 1-2 sentences? Is it about networking? Harnessing the power of a similar community? Technical capacity building? Finding solidarity in similar lifestyles or values?

In practical terms for Kickstarter (and I know this is probably in your plan in your head), do you have stakeholders and champions in each of the cities you have identified? Do they themselves feel part of this New Giving identity?

Love the idea and would love to help you out with a case study if you need it.

If I didn’t just quit my job to follow my own dreams, I’d try to do more. Otherwise hope you can get this to come together, sounds like an amazing idea!