The excitement about the social potential of new tools sometimes obscures the simple reality that projects need financial resources. The NetSquared Technology Innovation Fund (NTIF) was built – with donations from generous companies and organizations – to make sure some of the financial needs of NetSquared’s Featured Projects are addressed head-on.
NetSquared was founded with the aim of spurring the responsible adoption of social web tools by social benefit organizations. This involves taking full advantage of the new generation of online tools that make it easier than ever before to collaborate, share information and mobilize support. These tools – including blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasting, etc. – are often described as Web 2.0 or the social web. Non-profits and NGOs thrive on relationships, and NetSquared believes the social web holds tremendous potential to transform their effectiveness and impact.
Thousands of NetSquared community members pored through project proposals posted online to determine which projects were using the power of social networks to effect social change. Ultimately, 21 Projects receiving the greatest amount of community support were designated the first class of NetSquared Featured Projects: having the greatest potential to leverage the social web to create social change. At the second annual NetSqaured Conference (N2Y2) in May 2007, over 300 participants gathered to accelerate these 21 projects. Conference participants voted based on three criteria: what projects were most likely to take off and succeed, what projects will achieve the greatest impact, and what projects will be best leveraged by the social change community.
The top three winners of the first-ever NetSquared Innovation Awards were MapLight.org, Miro and the Freecycle Network. The NTIF provides $100,000 to support the NetSquared Featured Projects. The allocation format is $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 for the top three projects, respectively. The other 18 projects will split the remainder of the funds at approximately $2,777 each.
MapLight.org illuminates the connection between money and politics. It connects campaign contributions and votes for U.S. Congress, providing groundbreaking transparency so that bloggers, journalists and citizens can hold legislators accountable.
Miro is an open-source video player that is seizing an opportunity to build a new, open mass medium of online television – through the use of Internet video. This nonprofit software development makes watching internet video channels is as easy as watching TV and broadcasting a channel just as easy.
Freecycle.org are creating a global gift economy in an entirely nonprofit online community at Freecycle.org. Their goal is to make it easier to give something away than to throw it away, on a globally local scale.
For more information on these projects, find them under “Projects” in the ICT Resources section of the t4cd site.