Tools for Activism
Open-source host-it-yourself:
10_ENTRIES- Contact Congress (Open Source)
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
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 and the EFF. Frontend looks like this, https://call.mozilla.org and the backend looks like http://callpower.org. A hosted version is ava…
- Twilio.org's Rapid Response Kit
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...)
- 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.
- Crowdring
web app where people around the world can place a free missed call to sign a petition
- Self Starter
roll your own crowdfunding site
- TakeCharge.io
opensource or SaaS online donations powered by Stripe.
- Countdown
A quick & simple tool for making your own webpage with a countdown to your upcoming event.
- CiviCRM
Contact management system for non-profit / activist sector, including donations, memberships, events, SMS, bulk mail & full CRM.
- Spoke
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.
Software as a service:
9_ENTRIES- Loomio
Tool for collaborative decision-making in groups. Note: Loomio's code is also open source, but it's generally used as a hosted 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.)
- 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.
- ControlShift
Distributed petitions, events and local groups for progressive advocacy organizations. Tools to help make campaigns more participatory.
- Riseup
A provider of communication tools for activists, including free webmail, chat, and VPN
- Action Network
A nonprofit digital organizing toolset for progressive organizations. Includes petitions, advocacy, fundraising, mass email, and more for free or cheap.
- Democracy.io
(code) - Send messages to members of the US Senate and House of Representatives.
- MoveOn's Petition Platform
Start your own petition on MoveOn's hosted platform. If your petition gains traction, MoveOn staff may help support you.
- CiviWiki
An open-source, non-profit community, working to develop a democratic engagement web system.
Operating Systems:
1_ENTRIES- Tails
A live media, Linux-based operating system that is designed to allow the use of a computer without leaving a digital footprint.
Browsers:
2_ENTRIES- Tor Browser
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.
- Brave Browser
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.
Projects to keep an eye on (ie projects in development)
5_ENTRIESThese are all projects that are works in process. Not finished, but worth checking out.
- Where@
a mobile app to help protesters communicate with each other in realtime during marches
- Stencil Validator
(code) - a design tool for determining if your artwork is a valid stencil
- Day of Action
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
- Umbrella App
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.
- 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
The Graveyad
1_ENTRIESThese are projects or tools that once-existed but no longer exist
- 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.