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growing list of digital tools for activism things

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[ Daily / Weekly / Overview ]

Oct 11, 2022

Software as a service:

• CiviWiki - An open-source, non-profit community, working to develop a democratic engagement web system.

Jul 17, 2020

Browsers:

• Brave Browser (⭐14k) - Brave is a free and open-source web browser developed by Brave Software, Inc. based on the Chromium web browser. It blocks ads and website trackers, and provides a way for users to send information contributions in the form of Basic Attention Tokens to websites and content creators.

Apr 01, 2020

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• Spoke (⭐186) - Text-distribution tool for organizations to mobilize supporters and members into action. Spoke allows you to upload phone numbers, customize scripts and assign volunteers to communicate with supporters while allowing organizations to manage the process.

May 15, 2019

Software as a service:

• MoveOn's Petition Platform - Start your own petition on MoveOn's hosted platform. If your petition gains traction, MoveOn staff may help support you.

The Graveyad

• Thunderclap - use this to coordinate a group sharing the same message on social media at the same time. You write a tweet, make a campaign, and ask people to pledge to support your campaign. When you reach your goal of a certain number of pledgers, your tweet will automatically be posted to each pledger's social media.

Oct 02, 2018

Software as a service:

• Democracy.io (code (⭐253)) - Send messages to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives.

Jan 03, 2018

Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)

• Umbrella App (⭐206) - an open source Android App with lessons and checklists on digital and physical security topics ranging from sending a secure mail to dealing with physical surveillance and attending a protest safely. Also includes forms for responding to security incidents and feeds to ensure users are up to date with the latest security information for their area. Also available in Spanish and Chinese.

Oct 11, 2017

Browsers:

• Tor Browser (⭐450) - Free software for enabling anonymous communication. It prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.

Jun 28, 2017

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• Contact Congress (Open Source) (⭐32) - Send emails to members of the US Congress. This was developed by EFF as an open source project. They use it for their own campaigns internally. There is also a hosted version run by Fight for the Future (see below).

• Call Congress (⭐28) - Coordinate call-in days to US Congress, the President, or local or corporate targets. Original project from Fight for the Future and Taskforce.is, but with lots of development from Mozilla (⭐1) and the EFF (⭐34). Frontend looks like this, https://call.mozilla.org and the backend looks like http://callpower.org. A hosted version is available, and the code is AGPL.

Apr 09, 2017

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• CiviCRM - Contact management system for non-profit / activist sector, including donations, memberships, events, SMS, bulk mail & full CRM.

Nov 16, 2016

Software as a service:

• Action Network - A nonprofit digital organizing toolset for progressive organizations. Includes petitions, advocacy, fundraising, mass email, and more for free or cheap.

Aug 19, 2016

Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)

• Code Corps - code corps hopes to provide tools that connect people to projects that have a social impact, facilitate crowdfunding, and provide support for those working on projects

Jun 05, 2016

Operating Systems:

• Tails - A live media, Linux-based operating system that is designed to allow the use of a computer without leaving a digital footprint.

Jan 20, 2016

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• Ushahidi - Platform for data management and visualization. Other tools include CrowdMap, CrisisNET (data about world crises), Ping (tool for checking is someone is ok after an emergency), SMSsync (two-way SMS gateway). Check out their github repos.

Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)

• [email protected] (⭐38) - a mobile app to help protesters communicate with each other in realtime during marches

Jan 07, 2016

Software as a service:

• Riseup - A provider of communication tools for activists, including free webmail, chat, and VPN

Dec 31, 2015

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• Countdown (⭐38) - A quick & simple tool for making your own webpage with a countdown to your upcoming event.

Software as a service:

• Loomio - Tool for collaborative decision-making in groups. Note: Loomio's code is also open source (⭐2.1k), but it's generally used as a hosted service.

• ControlShift - Distributed petitions, events and local groups for progressive advocacy organizations. Tools to help make campaigns more participatory.

Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)

• Day of Action (⭐8) - very rough tool used to coordinate a day of action for high school students. the starting point for a more generalized tool to run a day of action campaign

Nov 17, 2015

Software as a service:

• Change.org Petition site. Chose a target, make a petition, send it to your friends. If they get traction, Change.org has staff that can provide support. (They also have org accounts, that allow groups to do branded pages and export contact info of signers.)

Oct 27, 2015

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• TakeCharge.io (⭐9) - opensource or SaaS online donations powered by Stripe.

Oct 15, 2015

Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)

• Stencil Validator (code (⭐12)) - a design tool for determining if your artwork is a valid stencil

Aug 12, 2015

Open-source host-it-yourself:

• Twilio.org's Rapid Response Kit (⭐304) - Collection phone-related tools using Twilio's service. Kit includes: Auto-Respond (inbound voice/sms responder), Broadcast (simple way to broadcast texts/calls to a list), Conference Line, Forwarder, Ringdown (call down a list of people, if 1st person doesn't answer go on to the next), Help Line (Press 1 for..., Press 2 for...)

• Crowdring (⭐16) - web app where people around the world can place a free missed call to sign a petition

• Self Starter (⭐3.2k) - roll your own crowdfunding site

Software as a service:

• Contact Congress (FFTF) - Used to send emails to members of the US Congress. This is Fight for the Future's hosted-version of the open sources Contact Congress. Ideal for organizations that send a lot of emails to congress, but who don't have tech staff who can install and maintain their own version of the open source software.

How do I contribute to this list

• Familiar with github? Send a pull request with your suggestions. If you're not sure how to do that don't sweat it. See below.

• Not familiar with github? You can leave a comment on this page by clicking on the Issues tab on the right and adding a New Issue (that's just like a comment). FYI you'll need to create a github account.