Hi fellow DDNers,
It's been a while since I posted (my apologies) since I've been
fairly swamped with my new position at Grassroots.org.
I thought I'd send a note to let you know what we've been working on.
Grassroots.org is developing a nonprofit toolbox that will include a
growing number of technology tools for every nonprofit, everywhere in
the world, for free...but we need you to take five minutes and vote
for the project, if you think it's cool :) I'd also welcome any and
all feedback on the project...what tools would you like to see in the
toolbox? What would be pointless? Which tools are a real pain for you
guys to host on your own?
Some of our planned tools will be Drupal-based, and others will
include EGroupware, Democracy In Action's Salsa platform (integrated
with Drupal, for online Moveon.org-style campaigns), free first-year
domain registrations, and free telephone consulting on topics like
search engine optimization for nonprofits. Partners include MAIN.org,
the Chicago Technology Cooperative, and Democracy in Action, along
with a couple of for-profits.
Of course, a lot of this stuff is free already (Drupal, Salsa, and
EGroupware are all open source, for example). So why aren't more
organizations using them? We think that if offer them to
organizations, hosted for free, with a comprehensive support and
training system (including screencasts and guides), it'll make a huge
difference in how nonprofits engage the internet. It seems like a
small thing, but most organizations *really* need a screencast on
"how to create a Drupal page" or "how to name your new page
intelligently" ...not "how to install and upgrade your uber-powerful
tech platform". And I mean really "hosted" by the way...not as a
subdomain or as part of another site, but a true hosted nonprofit CMS
site, with a unique domain name, minus the geek stuff.
And I really meant the "anywhere in the world" bit, too...this isn't
a US-only venture.
We're up for the NetSquared innovation fund that Michael Maranda
posted about earlier...it's a somewhat unique system where the
community votes for projects they like. If you think this project
pitch sounds useful, it would help us a ton if you could visit http://
www.netsquared.org/projects/vote and register / vote. Registration
takes five minutes (seriously, it's a Drupal site), and votes are due
this Saturday, April 14th.
And of course, all comments and feedback are welcome. Feel free to
hit me on list if it's a discussion relevant to the community, or off-
list otherwise.
Thanks!
Dave.
------------------------
Dave Chakrabarti
Director of Programs
Grassroots.org
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