Aggregating for Impact

Facilitated by Arthur Coddington, Craigslist Foundation

Using the volunteer aggregation project All for Good as a starting point, we'll look at data aggregation projects as a way to increase social impact and explore some issues that can derail them (data standards, adoption, partner management, conflicts with existing business models, etc.).

Session Notes

Aggregating Data Streams

CASE STUDY: All for Good

Presidential Transition Team - Increase service levels in USA Jonathan Greenblat

Volunteering, Picking up Trash, carpooling Google, Craigslist Foundation, all major tech firms

Goal: find volunteer ops within X miles.

Launched in June

Case Discussion -- Should it be inside the government?

Cons: slow, procurement, filtered data, limits on presented data Pro:

Corporation for national and community service -> facilitating way the government would present the data -> data provider

Data Standards Issue

Social Actions -> similar site microformat for volunteer ops

Serve.gov << http://www.allforgood.org

What was negotiated from private volunteer listing vendors?

Now managed by an independent nonprofit org, up and running Jonathan Greenblat, ED

Example of what's possible, other data aggregation project

http://www.activitystrea.ms/

Many different reasons for data not being released

Many opportunities to collect and integrate disparate data Crime Data, Juvenile hall statistics

Linking volunteer options with media distribution

Local data sharing - showing local solutions in contextual way

USing Competition to drive action - a la foursquare

Connecting greed impulse to philanthropy

Visualization tools for impact measurement

Closing the feedback loop -> listing what was supposed to happen, checking that it did, and giving credit for completed actions

Curriculum aggregation resource for social justice ogs -> some partners sell curriculum -> vs free rouserces - similar balance and negotiation issues

What kind of businesses are making money off volunteering? Large companies who want to increase volunteer work - managing them.

Managing volunteers - how to and who onebrick, etc.

Reputation and ranking of nonprofits: great nonprofits

TAKEAWAYS: data aggregation abound volunteer opportunities success story for very diverse stakeholders & partner management - it can be done! contextual display of opportunities getting involved with data streams for volunteer ops: www.ourgoodworks.org