Site Gives Insight Into the Software Nonprofits Use

"Whenever a new editor comes on, they can simply say to that editor, go and look at this toolbox. It's the list of the software you need with the instructions on how to install it," Gunn says. "And so, in that sense, Social Source Commons is an excellent documentation repository because it manages lists of software to be used for a purpose.

"We invite everyone to come and share on Social Source Commons the tools that they're most passionate about," Gunn says. "Because the more people who share, the more the sector grows capacity because people are able to make informed decisions about what's getting used and what's not getting used, and it only takes a couple of minutes."

Aspiration also is currently in the process — with the support of the Surdna Foundation — of building ANSWR, an online platform that will be a companion to Social Source Commons. Gunn says ANSWR, which will launch later this quarter, will feature a three-pronged approach to knowledge capture for nonprofit technology:

• An inventory of frequently asked questions for each technology discipline, which will link out to relevant secondary material.
• An inventory of the best articles on the Web per technology discipline.
• An aggregation of appropriate nonprofit blogging content.

The organization also is publishing the book "The 2009 Online Organizer's Almanac", a 200-page book of "everything you need to know to use the Internet for campaigning and advocacy," Gunn says. The book can be purchased or downloaded for free as a PDF via Lulu.com.