Quick shout out to the Net2 community -- I'm still in shock from the double honour (Canadian spelling) you gave Social Actions last week.

Thanks for choosing A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms as one of the top three mashups. My plan is to use your vote of confidence and the prize money to fully build out the search interface and open API for finding actionable opportunities in quick order. You won't be disappointed.

Let's start building those bridging between the silos in our sector. If you have ideas, inspiration, or knowledge to share, don't hesitate to get in touch.

All the best and thanks again! Peter

Hello Net2, I am working on my personal intro to the NetSquared community. In the meantime, here are several statements of support for the Social Actions mashup from participating social action platforms.

By the way, the Net2 attendee list is an allstar line-up. I am super excited to connect with friends and make new ones next week.

All the best, Peter

PS -- We added RSS support for our mashup search results over the weekend. We invite you to test drive the current version of "Social Actions -- A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms."

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PledgeBank is excited to be part of the Social Actions platform because it reflects one of the fundamental philosophies behind our site: that you can do more things to create a better world in a group than you can on your own. In a world that encourages isolationism and territorialism, Social Actions reflects a real sense of collaboration -- the embodiment of working collectively for the "greater good." As a platform that is geared toward collective action, we strongly support the idea of Social Actions and are excited by the energy demonstrated by the group that is moving this idea into reality.

We encourage you -- NetSquared community members, nonprofit staff, developers, and funders -- to join this collaborative effort. We look forward to finding more ways to help people around the world do good things, whether that's donating money, building libraries, petitioning their elected representatives, or educating their friends about a cause. More good, with more people, in more ways -- that is Social Actions!

- Heather Cronk, former Outreach Coordinator, PledgeBank

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DonorsChoose.org is excited about the Social Actions mashup because we believe that this will be the first of many such efforts to open up individual involvement with the social sector. At DonorsChoose.org we have long been guided by our philosophy of citizen philanthropy, the idea that an ordinary individual should have the same level of choice, impact, transparency and accountability that has traditionally been reserved for established philanthropists. This kind of mashup has the power to extend that philosophy to encompass many more social causes and many more kinds of involvement, from microphilanthropy to volunteering. We hope this points the way toward future digital collaborations of this type.

- Michael Everett-Lane, Executive Director for the NorthEast Region, DonorsChoose

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By combining and aligning the strengths of like minded people and their web applications, Social Actions has a good chance of making a structural contribution to a world that is more transparent and fair.

-Julius Huijnk, Founder, Helpalot

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At Bring Light, our goal has always been to help donors find specific projects from legitimate charities that they can contribute to. We appreciate the work Social Actions is doing to increase the impact we can have on creating social change.

- Melissa Dyrdahl, Co-founder, BringLight

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At Firstgiving our mission is to connect people who care with the causes they care about. We want to, make it as easy as possible for them to help make a difference. Social Actions and its open API approach can help us - and others in the space - achieve this mission with greater velocity and greater impact. Every additional information channel and every additional forum helps empower people who want to make a difference, and that's good for everybody.

-Mark Sutton, CEO, Firstgiving

Hi Net2, Social Actions is now participating in the DonateNow Challenge. Below is the description of how our mashup will make use of the NetworkforGood open API. Please have a look and let me know what you think. Looking forward to meeting everyone next week. All the best, Peter

Goal: Enhance the donor experience using NetworkforGood's open API.

Uniqueness & Creativity - By June 30, we will embed in the search results page of Social Actions an expandable donation form for each person-to-person fundraising campaign that originates from Change.org, SixDegrees, or any platform that uses NetworkforGood as a payment processesor.

Utility - The Social Actions / NetworkforGood integration will allow prospective donors to quickly mark a range of person-to-person campaigns they want to support. As more platforms make use of NetworkforGood's open API, our search interface will showcase the full range of how individuals are using NFG to raise money on behalf of organizations.

User Experience - Embedding the 'donate now' feature into the search results of Social Actions will permit prospective donors to participate in multiple campaigns across several platforms. For example, a user could donate to the top three campaigns on a given 'keyword' without leaving the search results page of Social Actions. These campaigns could originate from three different platforms.

Execution - Please test drive the current version of our mashup. The 'donate now' feature has not yet been implemented.

The team working on Social Actions is busy preparing the NetSquared Mashup Challenge. Below is a very draft dress rehearsal of some of the ideas we want to convey at the conference. Your feedback is welcome. Please use the comment form below to let me know if the ideas expressed hear will resonate with attendees at the conference.

Thank you Justin Massa of MoveSmart.org (also a finalist in the NetSquared Mashup Challenge) for the collaborative opportunity and for throwing such great questions at me.

Note: The opinions expressed in this video are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other team members working on Social Actions or any of the participating social action platforms.

Hi Net2, I am organizing a two-day workshop about micro-philanthropy immediately following the NetSquared Conference. The event will be held at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center (40 minutes SW from San Jose on May 29 & 30).

Below is an excerpt from the description. Please let me know a.s.a.p. if you are interested in attending. I'll publish a list of confirmed participants at the end of next week.

All the best, Peter

A Workshop About Micro-Philanthropy

This workshop explores the possibilities of using "network approaches technology" for micro philanthropic activities. Network approaches represent a radical departure from traditional hierarchical approaches and open up innovative possibilities for self-organization and self-propagation that are not based on a notion that we have "too many problems and not enough money."

View the full description and agenda >>

Location

The workshop will be held over two days at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center, a rustic retreat center located in an 80 acre Redwood forest 45 minutes southwest of San Jose, California. Accommodations will be in the Orchard Lodge, with meetings in the beautiful Casa de Luz In keeping with the theme of self-organization, the center is a self-service retreat and conference center. Attendees provide their own bedding and bath towels, care for and clean the facility during their stay, and clean the facility thoroughly prior to departure. Off-site accommodations may be arranged, but the registration fee is the same for on-site or commuter participants due to the rental obligations.

Participants

Participants will include the founders and staff of social action platforms, executive and program staff from nonprofits, traditional and experimental grant-makers, as well as nonprofit technology consultants and those interested in the network theories of change. This workshop is not a time for solicitation of funds, nor will it be interesting to someone solely interested in using the internet as a fundraising tool for their organization.

Registration

Our goal is to have a small, conversational group of people deeply interested in the topic. To request an invitation, please introduce yourself in an email to Peter Deitz (peterdeitz@gmail.com). A registration fee of $175 per participant includes workshop participation, accommodation at the Quaker Center, and continental breakfasts and lunches.

I’d like to offer a huge thank you to everyone who voted for “A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms” last week during the crowd-sourcing portion of the NetSquared Mashup Challenge.

I am excited to build out the mashup further in the coming weeks, and then travel to San Jose with the "finished product" at the end of May.

This competition is providing an amazing opportunity for Social Actions to finally build a grassroots movement around peer-to-peer social change. Thank you, NetSquared!

To get more involved in this movement, and to help with the development of our mashup ahead of the NetSquared Conference, please join the Social Actions google group.

In other news, I found out last week that Social Actions has also been named a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge, an annual competition to identify and support ICT innovations in international development.

To learn more, please read the proposal I submitted in December and/or my blog entry about becoming a finalist in both challenges.

These are very excting times for my project. All the best, Peter

I just put together this YouTube video to thank the NetSquared voters who added A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms to their ballots.

If you voted for A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms, please send me an email. This is the only way I know when and to whom to send thank you notes.

DonorsChoose.org, the leading platform for classroom micro-philanthropy, and Helpalot, a Netherlands-based nonprofit community are now contributing content to "A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms." From the DonorsChoose blog in a post called Mashed!: "DonorsChoose.org proposals are now part of

Hi NetSquared, Below is the ballot I just cast. It was difficult narrowing my selection. I would have wanted to include even more mashups.

A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms -- Social Actions

Change Broadcasting Channels

Volunteer Now! - by mobile phone

EPIC CHANGE: Story-Powered Activism<

Assetmap.org/Uganda

MoveSmart.org

Hi Net2, Below is the official pitch for A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms. It just went up on my blog, About Micro-Philanthropy. A few of the mashup creators have sent me email votes of confidence. Thanks for your support. My next post will be a reprint of the ballot I plan to cast. -Peter

Dear friend,

I am asking for your support in an online contest called the NetSquared Mashup Challenge.