Social networking…drastic change

A two-year old online community, Change.org is dedicated to discussing some of the world’s biggest problems: immigration, ethnic cleansing, climate change and so on. But the organization is still looking for its biggest change yet. The main focus: itself. The site is changing into a media company that will publish 13 individual blogs, each has a specific topic.

Change.org’s managing editor Josh Levy sees the revamped site as a new place for its 120,000 members, a one-stop shop for the latest news on any topic and tools for taking action.

"People want to do stuff, but how do you make it easy and fun and connected to their life? This is an attempt to solve that," says Levy, who had formerly been an associate editor at the Personal Democracy Forum's group blog, techPresident. "We use blogging to create communities around issues and connect people to actions."

An example is the Stop blog which is regularly updated by journalist Emily Gertz with news and analysis on climate change. By clicking the ACTIONS tab on her blog, members are taken to a page where they are shown how to do something toward solving the problem, even in tough economic times.

Raising funds easier

Lindsay Sparks of World Neighbors, a development organization that raised around $20,000 through the site said it allows them to reach out to people they normally wouldn’t reach.”People are learning more and more that they can give smaller gifts. They don't have to give $100; they can give $5 and make an impact." The site has been so effective at addressing issues that she registered her own nonprofit on Change.org: she set up a page for her Central Oklahoma Greyhound rescue group and quickly raised $100.

But there is a catch. "Change is clever in the way that they have positioned themselves to pick up on that group that's been involved with the Obama camp," says Nancy Schwartz, a marketing consultant to nonprofits. "But that level of involvement hasn't been sustained even throughout the campaign." Schwartz would also like to see each of the topic-specific blogs have more than just one voice, if not multiple views. "If they really open it up on the Huffington model that could be really interesting."

For now, Levy and the others can take comfort in a few more statistics: from 1989 to 2005 the rate of teenage volunteerism more than doubled, to 28.4 percent, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. There has also been a 20 percent increase in the number of college students volunteering between 2002 and 2005 alone—meaning high-schoolers don't necessarily outgrow their application-padding social activism once they attend their first kegger. For that, Change.org can have a toast.