Hey Nathan, I worked on something similar in 2010–12 called Votizen, here’s some lessons learned from doing it and a few other projects:
Other organizations have built similar tools as well, like POPVOX, Countable, Brigade, many of the Sunlight Foundation tools, Mobile Commons, etc. I’d also study this:
Our product, Votizen, was a petition tool where we aggregated policy support and hand delivered letters into Congress, so it’s a little different than what you’re suggesting, but plenty of applicable learnings.
Some specific thoughts for you:
- To engineers and tech people, and I’m one of them, every problem has tech or tools as a solution. We always run home to what we know, and it’s not always correct.
- You’re describing what a lot of advocacy organizations already do: build a list, and when something is happening on Capitol Hill, they ask members to call—including providing specific scripts. MoveOn.org is exactly what you’re describing, and there’s many others that are more issue specific. Talk to people that work for these organizations and see what their problems and pain points are while doing their jobs. Imagine fixing a pain point for hundreds or thousands of organizers. You’re more likely to make a difference that way than striking virality with another page.
- Consider if by building another tool, you’re not a part of the solution but a part of the problem. If you don’t have the education/policy working and convincing people to take action, you’re siphoning people away from those groups that have professional organizers with years of experience and a proven track record of driving grassroots action. You could use your energy to support one of them instead.
- If you do ultimately decide to go it alone and build something, start lean, find an issue that isn’t already being addressed. There’s no need to match people up to their officials right away. Pick a single issue, find a nice piece of content, throw it up, and see if anyone engages. There’s a single Congressional switchboard: (202) 224–3121. Validate each stage of the funnel before moving onto the next.
Here’s a relevant thread by someone over at Code for America:
Best of luck, feel free to respond with any more questions. I’m personally trying to figure out how to best make a difference myself: it’s taking a lot of conversations with really smart people, research, and reflection.
