Twitter co-founder turns his attention to social change and nonprofits

The continued advances in technology and their application to nonprofit fundraising strategies is never in danger of slowing down. Just when you’re beginning to get comfortable with Facebook’s ‘Causes’ or Jumo along comes another idea that might represent a significant change in how social media is used by nonprofits. While it’s impossible to predict what new technologies will last and which ones will fade away, the pedigree of the developer certainly influences the interest in new tools. If you’re not familiar with the name Biz Stone you’ll certainly be familiar with the product the 36-year-old entrepreneur/developer co-founded with partner Jack Dorsey in 2006. These two were responsible for the creation and introduction of Twitter.

Stone’s track record doesn’t begin and end with Twitter however, as he was also a key member in the development of Blogger (which along with WordPress is the platform for most blogs you read) and also extremely popular Xanga (another weblog/photoblog tool). Stone has been more recently working to develop a tool to help charitable organizations which was offically unveiled this week. Last autumn he had written on his blog that his desire to develop a new product in this field was on his agenda:

“Startups have a unique opportunity to build the concept of “giving back” into the company culture from the very beginning. This is core to Twitter and other startups I’m involved with such as Trazzler and Square where I am a director and investor, respectively. Entrepreneurs are realizing that they don’t need to wait until they have big piles of money to start helping others in need. In fact, the earlier you align your company with social causes, the better. With an early start, the results can have more impact over time. Whether it’s tied to an entrepreneurial vision or simply made part of your every day life, giving pays back in ways you might not anticipate. Whether you’re helping a teacher and classroom in need, donating clothes or canned foods to a local shelter, volunteering for disaster relief, or giving up your birthday to help others get clean water, you’re doing something that makes a difference in the world. Don’t think you have to wait to do these things—get started right away because here’s the secret: there is compound interest in altruism”

Twitter co-founder is launching a company to help combat negative social issues

His new venture is ConvergeUS; his goal is to partner with diverse resources to create a ‘technology innovation blueprint’ which has been described as a plan to use technology and social media to drive social change. The organization plans to partner with three other groups annually to then work together on social issues. ConvergeUS is sharing this partnership with TechNet IT and the plan includes holding a related annual summit to gather together leaders in technology and social issues to build the future plan for success. Stone feels driven to accomplish this as he thinks that the progress being made in the nonprofit/social sector as a result technology innovations lags behind many other industries which he doesn’t think needs to be the case. It’s a little early to determine just what his new venture will achieve concretely without a crystal ball but the goals laid out all centre around accelerating the integration of social media with social causes. The concept itself is quite fascinating and the dividends in theory can be applied throughout the nonprofit sector in years to come. If you visit the ConvergeUS site the ‘about’ page provides an interesting overview of what is planned, the long-term strategy seems to hinge around three key platforms; the annual summits as I mentioned, a clearinghouse or marketplace to team developers with causes and a ‘lab’ for lack of a better word – a place where ConvergeUS hopes to develop and then implement new social media products targeted to benefit the sector.

The organization states that their key focus will be childhood education, healthcare and sustainability with an initial focus in the US but with plans to expand internationally. The selected causes for the first year of operation include two literacy/education programs with a third yet to be selected although disaster management efforts are rumoured to be selected. Naturally the progress can’t be measured overnight but it will be interesting to revisit ConvergeUS a year from now and see what developments have resulted from the blueprint that has been laid out. In real terms I think it’s a further indication that social media technology will be the most liquid of assets in the years to come and if nonprofits are to truly maximize their potential the awareness of these tools both in existence and still to be developed will be critical. I look forward to seeing the results.

To learn more about ConvergeUS please visit their official website.

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