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One Year Later: N2Y3 Winner, Social Actions, Shares Success Story
NetSquared recently followed up with the N2Y3 Featured Projects to develop these short case studies, with the goal to expand the knowledgebase of best practices for applying social media in the nonprofit context. We interviewed participants from the N2Y3 Featured Project teams to gain a better understanding of the way they used social media to increase their reach and carry out their missions. We are very happy to bring you their stories!
Today's spotlight: Social Actions!
Project Details:
- Name of Organization: Social Actions
- URL: http://socialactions.com/
- Location: Montreal, Quebec
Project Description:
Social Actions is a web-set service to find opportunities to share and make a difference. They're building out a search engine that has actions from various partners. Created very big tent for what action might be. Further, they're using open API to make sure actions get on the Internet.
Social media tool or tactic used:
As an organization, they use Ning, Twitter, Facebook Fan Page, and a Drupal website to communicate with their base. They also have an e-newsletter around constant contact. With regard to their project software, they use Ruby on Rails and an API (Jason).
How was it used?
The API used by developers that draw on various data sets from the social platform community. After NetSquared, a lot of attention was attracted and they've put a team together that includes the Brattleboro Tech Collective.
Outcome:
They've created 4 or 5 different applications that embed actions on 2.0 sites. They've also own search interface. Revamped website, created new, more-accessible information. Social Actions has hosted three luncheons for partners, convening groups that they have worked with, and facilitated conversations about collaborative opportunities.
Lessons learned:
They have learned the "A-Z" on building and running an organization from scratch. Peter Deitz specifically has renewed an appreciation of the role founder must play with financials.
For more information:
- See the full list of N2Y3 Featured Projects here.
- Read all of the N2Y3 Case Studies as they are published.
The work to create this case study series was funded by a grant from the Packard Foundation.
- Amy Sample Ward's blog
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Open Actions too
Hi Amy, I'd add that through the aggregation and the API, and the newly started openactions.org wiki (to document and develop the Open Actions XML format), they also indirectly bolted on "openness" to many of the platforms feeding into Social Actions.
The Change The Web contest just opened my eyes to what then is possible. Not just by using the aggregate data, but also by offering a road map for these platforms to implement APIs and formats that can then be used by applications, plugins, and what have you, to deal with any platform, directly or through an aggregator site.
That creates an eco-system of applications, providers and users, where Social Actions is an enabler and catalyst, but not a bottleneck, filter or necessary component. Their business model is not around scarcity but around abundance.