Background
The idea for the ActionApps came from years of APC and our members helping activists and NGOs publish their information online. Unlike newspapers and television media, where it is difficult for a small social change organization to compete with multinational corporations, Internet publishing affords NGOs an equal opportunity to present their messages and to share information. To effectively harness this possibility, non-profit organizations need easy-to-use tools for publishing and sharing information. Indeed, a common complaint from activists worldwide we kept hearing was: “We need affordable Internet tools that will make it easy to run campaigns and work together." ActionApps are the APC's response to this need.
The Association for Progressive Communications' (APC) ActionApps help non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reach a broader audience by allowing them to easily publish their information on the Internet. Features include easy forms-based publishing of news information and Usenet-like sharing of articles between sites. Groups use APC ActionApps to publish content items like news, events, resources, contacts, and more. See section 1.2.5 for examples of [#_What_APC_Action Websites that use the APC ActionApps].
A common need of non-governmental organizations is an easy and efficient way to share information with their members, staff, and the general public. Non-profit groups typically face two dilemmas in sharing their messages:
- They do not have the people and time needed to post new information on an existing Web site
- It is difficult to obtain publicity for important issues, actions, and events
ActionApps are designed to help organizations solve both of these problems. By using simple Web forms, ActionApps allow anyone within your organization to publish news and other content on your Website. Advanced technical skills are not needed. They also provide “Content Pooling" features that help you to automatically share your content with other organizations of your choice. This kind of content sharing arrangement can dramatically increase traffic and publicity for your information and save you time.
