Leadership is Influence. That's what Maxwell says. And I believe that to be true. And influence can show up in a variety of ways. Influencing a team, a friend, a family, and sometimes a network.

In the past, when it came to influencing through giving, most of us kept that part of our lives to ourselves. Giving, and being charitable, was a private matter. But times have changed.

Today, a new style of giving and being charitable has emerged. Philanthropy has changed. A new form of influence for good through bloggers and twitterers, and the amazing social networks that have been created.

- Seth Godin just challenged his blog community last week to provide a small donation in exchange for receiving his new book a few weeks before it releases next year, and quickly raised over $100,000 in 48 hours for the Acumen Fund.

- Jon Acuff just raised $60,000 to build two kindergarden schools in Vietnam through challenging his blog readers to give.

- Alyssa Milano just raised $25,000 for clean water in 5 new communities through charity: water and the Mycharity project in conjunction with her 37th birthday. And Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, just recently raised $15,000 through Mycharity as well.

- The Causes function on Facebook is constantly being used to create giving opportunities for Facebook friend groups.

Philanthropy has changed. Changed for good. And for those of us who have social networks, let's consider how we are using our influence as well.