My top 10 apps for organisers
Tom Liacas at Netchange dropped this great article last week, taking a look at the tech stacks of some leading distributed organising programmes. Having spent a lot of time over the past 6 years testing a lot of them, I wish someone could have just told me which tool is the best! 🤦♂️
Don’t get me wrong, I know that’s not possible. It’s subjective. It’s context specific. And it’s ever changing. But I’m going to give it a go anyway! 🤷♂️ In keeping with the key principle in Toms article that “the platforms and tools chosen must present the least friction when it comes to adoption and use by organizers and supporters”, Ive focussed on tools that are free or cheap and (relatively) easy to use.
So, here’s my top 10 apps for organisers…
1. Google Drive
(Browser, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)
Before anything else, you’re going to need someplace to store, share and collaborate on minutes, strategies and other documents. Google Drive is your answer. Open to all and easy to use, Google Drive has helped scale movements from Indivisible to Extinction Rebellion. And later on, a shared Google Calendar for planning communications is damn useful too.
2. Meistertask
(Browser, iOS, Android)
So you had a meeting and saved your minutes in Drive, now you need to assign to do’s to each other. Like Trello, Meistertask is a free task management platform, with Tasks (“Cards” in Trello) created in Projects (like Trello’s “Boards”) that are laid out like a series of lists. While most similar platforms limit the number of free users, both Trello and Meistertask are unlimited. So why do I prefer Meistertask (especially when its a little more glitchy than Trello)? Unlike Trello, Meistertask forces tasks to be assigned to one responsible person and enables completed tasks to be “ticked off”. This kind of accountability is the backbone of organising.
Tip: Prefer “Asana” style lists to “Trello” style boards? Check out https://sendtask.io/ — it’s free, enables unlimited users and even enables tasks to be shared with people without an account!
3. Zoom
(Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)
What about when you can’t get together to meet? Zoom is a free video conferencing app enabling unlimited users to chat (well, its free so long as your meeting is less than 40mins – which is good for discipline anyway!). You just need to download the app and away you go. Its great for quick webinars to orientate new volunteers en masse too.
4. Slack
(Browser, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)
Next you need a way to keep in touch in between meetings. Facebook is ok, but not everyone wants to be on it. Email can be overwhelming. Whatsapp is great for quick back n forth. But for more serious chat, Slack is the go to. While new alternatives like Zulip are better in some ways (e.g. using message “topics” like email subject lines, making it easier to keep up with the chat) Slack’s new ability to generate a permanent invite link and it’s ecosystem of bots, apps and tutorials, make onboarding easy — vital to reach scale (volunteer for Bernie to see this in action and do some good while you’re at it)
5. Doodle
(Browser, iOS, Android)
The original scheduling app. Organisers need to schedule time to meet and talk to each other and others. Doodle is the answer. You might be familiar with the original tool: create some time/date options, send the link to your invitees, they pick the ones that work for them, enabling you to easily choose a date that works for the majority. But Doodle has a great new feature: “Meet me” enables you to connect your calendar and send a link to your invitee. They can see when you’re free and choose a slot that works for them. What’s more, Doodle also now lets you run a poll for things other than dates, which can be a good way to take an online vote.
6. Canva
(Browser, iOS, Android)
Making things look sexy is a skill, and with a distributed organising programme you should be able to find graphic designers to help out. But Canva can save you if you can’t. A free platform chock full of swish looking templates for logos, flyers, social media images, infographics and the rest. Jump on here and make your cause look lovely.
7. Facebook
(Browser, iOS, Android)
There might not be many young folks joining their parent’s social network of choice (find them on Instagram and Dischord), but 2 billion people is still a big audience. Set up a Page for your organisation, create Events, target Ads at your key audience and use Groups and Messenger – with its 90% open rate - to engage with them. Ready to step it up? Check out how Movimiento Cosecha used live streamed videos and a free Messenger bot to engage volunteers.
(Browser)
Shortly after Trump was elected, women and allies took to the streets in their millions. This global Womens March was organised using Action Network. The free version combines digital “actions” (petitions, sign up forms, events, fundraisers) with a simple but effective database and mass-email tool. Got some cash? Its well worth the $200 pcm to become a network partner, giving your sub groups all the same tools, while the supporters they engage automatically join your main database. The non-profit and progressive only Action Network is now the movement standard, powering everything from the School Cuts campaign to Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth. Action Network are also about to launch a new mobile tool for face-to-face, 1:1 relational organising which you can check out here.
(Just need a simple email list instead? Check out Freelists)
(Browser, iOS, Android)
Distributed organising requires a place to build peer-to-peer communication across your community online. Mighty Networks is made for it. Not free, but good value, Mighty Networks provides your community with its own landing page (where people sign up and get texted the app), a social media style feed, direct messaging and events. Even better, when a new person joins, it will suggest other members who live near them or share their interests to connect with – in other words it does the organising for you! You can also set up sub-groups, online courses and monetise your community.
10. Plectica
(Browser)
Life is complex. You might need to develop a “relational map” of the people (and power) in your community or workplace. Or you might need to collaborate with others remotely to brainstorm a complex campaign strategy. Plectica has you covered. This mind mapping tool is based on principles of “systems thinking”, helping you work through a holistic view of a complex issue.
Connecting them
A few years back, some companies spotted that the proliferation of apps was leading to data silos in organisations. So they promised to fix this with one size fits all, “we do everything” platforms. The trouble is; a jack of all trades is a master of none. It’s far from fullproof, but for my money I would much rather use the cheap consumer technologies above, and connect the ones I really need to using a 3rd party integration app like Zapier or Integromat.
The wildcard
One possible exception to that rule is Bitrix 24. Ok, the free out-of-the-box version is a bit rough n ready, but the list of features is mindblowing: A proper CRM, sites/pages/forms, email marketing, task management, internal and external messaging, telephony… the list goes on. And if you want to step up, the self hosted version might be pricey (somewhere circa £5–10k) but it can be fully customised! Honestly, its worth a look.
So there you go, my top 10 (11? 12? Sorry, that was hard!) apps for organisers. What do you think? Have your own favourites? Tell me in the comments!