It seems though that our societies are much better off than our bodies when it come to surviving without essential resources. Our society suffer today of huge falls of blood pressure, with a civil society constantly depicted in a period of crisis by many researchers and sociologists. Polish-British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman describes well the consequences of such a downfall: “In today’s individualistic society we create problems together, but we are supposed to solve them individually, deploying individual ingenuity, perceptiveness, energy and our own privately held means.”
In his famous book Bowling Alone, sociologist Robert Putnam illustrates the fall of social capital in contemporary USA, introducing the concept of “lonely citizens”. The decreasing number of memberships of NGOs, political parties and other social groups, combined with rising anti-political feelings complete the equation, determining a desolating picture of a weak and tired civil society.
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Such a desolating picture might give leave little hope for the future of civil society, leading to endless frustration. But perhaps frustration can be considered as the very driving force of civil society. In the words of Michael Edwards, consultant and former Member of the Board of the CEE Trust: “Frustration is what makes the difference. It transforms a person into a citizen. Frustration towards the bad decision of governments drives civil society into activism.”
As much as frustration is transformed into positive thinking, it allows civil society to build more and more interesting links with new technologies. Parallel to the Civil Society Forum, a group of social innovators, creatives, designers and thinkers met at the Social Innovation Camp CEE for an intense two days of competition to develop new and original tools to approach social change.
“This Social Innovation Camp is an ambitious experiment that aims to put the power of the new technologies at the service of society to amplify the impact of social actions and deliver more results”, says Dan McQuillian, co-founder of the SI Camp.
With the advent of an Information Society, civic activism has been forced to reshape its ways. A visionary civil society must be able to look ahead and find new, unexplored paths to channel civic energies into the achievement of social development, without losing its essence. link

These organizations exist solely to make change. That’s why you joined, isn’t it?
The problem facing your group, ironically, is the resistance to the very thing you are setting out to do. Non-profits, in my experience, abhor change.
Take a look at the top 100 twitter users in terms of followers. Remember, this is a free tool, one that people use to focus attention and galvanize action. What? None of them are non-profits. Not one as far as I can tell. […]
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The marketing world has changed completely. So has the environment for philanthropic giving. So have the attitudes of a new generation of philanthropists. But if you look at the biggest charities in the country, you couldn’t tell. Because they’re ‘non’ first, change second.
Sorry if I sound upset, but I am. The work these groups do is too important (and the people who work for them are too talented) to waste this opportunity because you are paralyzed in fear. link

It’s probably worth also listening to my interview with Micael Bogar on Global Voices:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/08/01/caucasus-an-interview-with-micael-bogar/