This mashup will create a storybank (i.e., database) of images & videos from various non-profits & charitable organizations that consumers/activists can personalize as eCards & eGifts and send to friends via email and social networking sites for $1 each. Here’s why this story-based tool will make an important difference in raising funds and generating awareness for many important causes:

• Stories Matter. According to recent research by Wharton professor Deborah Small, stories are far better than statistics at generating an emotional response that inspires giving.
• Pictures = 1,000 Words. “Fund-raising appeals do best when they are crafted around a single gripping image." (The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 7/17/07)

Social Actions aggregates peer-to-peer social change campaigns so that individuals, organizations, and 3rd-party developers can find, support and mashup grassroots solutions to local and global problems.

View the widget we are using to promote the mashup proposal.

Test drive the current version of the Social Actions mashup

Social Actions brings together active campaigns from 29+ platforms into a single open API and search interface. The aggregator uses mark-up in the feeds to identify semantic data relating to the location, subject, time-frame, and goal of each campaign.

This innovation permits prospective donors, individuals and web apps to run queries on and map visually the dataset as a whole. We see a huge potential in the 29+ platforms to promote peer-to-peer social change. We’re pursuing this work to amplify their impact and to bring about a world in which everyone is a changemaker.

Here's a screen shot of the front end:

Social action platforms that are currently contributing content include: BringLight, Care2, Change.org, ChangingthePresent, DemocracyInAction, DonorsChoose, Firstgiving, Fundable, GiveMeaning, GlobalGiving, Helpalot, Kiva, MicroGiving, PincGiving, PledgeBank, Razoo, SixDegrees, ThePoint, and ZaZengo.