DigiActive.org

Resource: Social Source Commons

Description: What tools are non-profit groups using out there in the field? What works? What tools would you recommend to others?  To get answers to all these seemingly tough questions check out the Social Source Commons.

It describes itself as “a place to share lists of software tools that you already use, gain knowledge and support, and discover new tools.  It’s a place to meet people with similar needs and interests and answer the question: what tools do they use?”

URL: http://socialsourcecommons.org

How it works: The idea, in hindsight, seems disarmingly simple. You get enough people (from this sector) to sign-up, and say what software tools they use or find useful.  When I check ‘My Toolboxes’, I find some 46 tools listed by me. Says Social Source Commons: “Your Personal Toolbox is for listing tools you use and recommend to others. The contents of your Personal Toolbox are used in calculating tool popularity and recommendations for the SSC Community.” What’s more, I find out who’s using the same tools as me.

For instance, CiviCRM (the Free Software/Open Source constituent relationship management system) is used by me and 51 others! CivicSpace, the Free/Open Source content-management system platform for grassroots organizing and civic activity, gets used by 19 of us.

Site features: On the site, there’s a list for new tools that are useful for non-profits — DonorWorks, DonorVision, DonorTrax, DonorTools, GeoGebra and other names we’ve probably never heard of.  There’s also a list of the most active tools — Donation Solution,  Donarius, Donation Tracker, Development Logic, DirectToCRM, and Donation Director. You can search through tags, build contacts and more.

You even can create additional Toolboxes to share lists of tools by category or by theme.  Such as “Tools I Use When I’m Travelling” or “Free Tools Everyone Should Know About”.

Creator: This is one of the current projects of the San Francisco-based Aspiration, and is supported by the Soros-funded Open Society Institute Information Program.

Aspiration defines its mission as being “to connect nonprofit organizations with software solutions that help them better carry out their work.”  It says, “We want nonprofit organizations to be able to find and use  the best software available, so that they maximize their effectiveness and impact and, in turn, change the world.”