One Year Later: N2Y3 Winner, Social Actions, Shares Success Story

Amy Sample Ward
Posted 4 years 1 week ago
by Amy Sample Ward
See all of Amy Sample Ward's blog posts

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:

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:

The work to create this case study series was funded by a grant from the Packard Foundation.