Making the Internet Work for Civil Society:
A Product & Service Manifesto for APC

by Mark Surman

Introduction   |   Why Non-Profit Computer Networks?   |   Good APC Products   |
Value Added Products   |   WWW Development and Support   |  
Traditional Internet Products   |   New Product Options   |  Presentation   |   Sample Plan

1. Unlike anything offered by the commercial Internet industry.

There is no point just duplicating what commercial Internet companies are providing (e.g., dial-up, original software development, etc). Certainly, some overlap is acceptable, but for the most part it makes sense to just resell these existing services, or even to point NGOs towards the best products and leave it at that. On the other hand, it does make sense to identify areas that commercial Internet companies are not interested in and develop these areas. For example, low-tech access services, customised training and development, campaign support, and publicity.

2. Designed specifically to address NGO needs and desires.

Building on the above, the best products and services that APC networks could possibly offer are those that are designed specifically to address NGO needs and desires. For example, tools for online lobbying, action alert publishing, and online fundraising match unique needs that exist only in civil society. One of the biggest advantages APC has is a willingness to focus solely on the needs of NGOs. This is something that the big Internet companies will never do.

3. Easy to integrate with other APC products and services.

While offering a good selection of products that meet various NGO needs is a good start, these tools only become really useful when they work together. On a simple technical level, 'working together' means having tools that run on a common platform, use a similar interface and share a common permissions system. But it is also important to incorporate this kind of 'integration' in the design of training materials, content and consulting services. Everything you do should reinforce and support everything else you do.

4. Integrally woven into the 'people network' that makes up the APC and each member network.

Another big advantage that APC has is an existing network of over 50,000 people who share similar concerns. This 'people network' creates dozens of opportunities to take 'standalone' products and services and connect them into national or APC-wide publishing or community building exercises. All APC products and services should take advantage of these opportunities.

5. Easy to replicate over and over again (Optional Criteria).

It is one thing to deliver the same 'Internet application' once or twice (which makes it a service), and another to deliver it a hundred or a thousand times (which makes it a product). Delivering something over and over again means making it robust and easy to replicate. This ability to replicate – or 'productize' – a tool or application is key to both integration – you know x will always fit with y, and the financial sustainability that comes from selling the same thing over and over again.

1.3 Business Category #1:
Value Added Products/Services

Value added: extra value or special features that make a generic product or service more attractive to certain types of customers.

APC and many of its members actually began their lives as providers of 'value added' online services. While they offered a dial-up service with e-mail just like other online services of the day, these were not the main drawing points for users. The real attraction was the content and the community – the thousands of activists and the material they published in APC conferences. APC was valuable because it brought people and information from around the world together in one 'place'.

With the advent of the World Wide Web, this service began to erode quickly. Most NGOs stopped using APC conferences and instead chose to publish their news on the WWW. As this continues to happen, the content – and the community – originally offered by APC conferences slowly diminishes.

Despite this shift away from conferences, there is still a significant role for APC networks to play in animating NGO content and community on the Internet. Individual WWW sites don't attract the traffic of larger 'communities'. They also don't lend themselves to spontaneous connections and networking between people working on similar projects or issues. To make these things happen, APC again needs to bring people and information from around the world together in one place.

In order to rebuild APC’s capacity as a facilitator of content and community, while at the same time developing its role as a value added service provider, the organization must recognize that individual NGO WWW sites and broader community sites can be two sides of the same coin. NGOs want their own WWW sites. It would be foolish to deny this, and a disservice to try to convince them otherwise. But there is no reason that the material posted to these WWW sites cannot also feed into a collective 'content base' in the manner that conference postings once did. Using search engines and databases, the WWW sites of APC's members could quickly become a collective resource as powerful and useful as the conferences ever were.

Some of the reasons to focus on value added services – and on the broader goal of rebuilding content and community on APC networks – include:

1. Connecting the Internet to Standard NGO 'Business Processes'

By 'value adding' on existing Internet tools and infrastructure, APC networks can come up with simple products that match the day to day needs of civil society. For example, standard database components can be put together into a press release database for NGOs. Or, e-commerce tools can be pulled together into an online collective fundraising marketplace for a whole social sector. There is a great desire on the part of NGOs to see these tools offered at a reasonable cost.

2. Ability to Serve an Unlimited Number of NGOs

Turning these NGO 'business processes' into easy to replicate products means that the same service can be offered to dozens or thousands of NGOs without the need to add significant new staff or resources. In addition to having the potential for high volume sales, these types of products also lend themselves to steady revenue through ongoing charges.

3. Low Cost Way to Meet Unique NGO Needs

This ability to replicate the same product over and over also reduces the cost for the civil society organizations interested in using these services. For example, in Canada, where programming a custom press release tool may cost thousands of dollars, an off the shelf version may only cost 10 or 20 percent of the cost of a custom solution.

4. Leveraging Tools Into Content & Community

Using databases, APC value added tools can quickly be turned into a source of content as well. That is, every time an organization purchases a tool for the public dissemination of information, the content created from this tool can be 'aggregated' into an APC-wide or member-wide content site. This is true of Action Applications, discussion forums, e-commerce projects and many other types of value added tools. This sort of content aggregation can feed into the 'content and community' that APC once supported using its conferencing system. It can also help to build the foundations of 'Civil Society Media Channels' that will ensure a voice for NGOs as the Internet converges with traditional media.

While there is a great deal of potential for value added tools and broader content services that may flow from these tools, there are of course pitfalls and dangers. They include:

• Products are harder than services: It is much easier to build a single WWW site for an organization than to figure out how a tool will work when plugged into 1000 WWW sites. Building a 'product' requires careful research, planning and testing.
• It has to really work: To succeed as a product, WWW tools need to be robust and fully functional before they are launched. If they break the first time users try them, they won't want to use your services again in the future.
• Marketing is key: While project-based work allows for face-to-face outreach and 'sales', this doesn't work with 'products'. Marketing to as many people as possible and getting out a clear message is essential to selling value added services like those described below.

• Action Applications:¹ Shared database publishing applications which both 'plug-in' to NGO WWW sites (i.e., are standalone) and aggregate information into 'issue-based community' sites.
• Online Discussion Groups: Public or private discussion groups that can be accessed via e-mail, WWW browser or newsreader. These are great online workspaces or public consultation tools for people with mixed levels of Internet and technology access.
• NGO Virtual Office: Intranets created with the push of a button that allow NGOs to meet, plan projects and develop documents in private using the World Wide Web. Includes online discussions, document management and automated publishing.
• Online Training: 'WWW-based courses' on strategic uses of the Internet by NGOs. Includes instructor-led discussion forums as well as written resource materials.
• Collective Online Fundraising / Fair Trade: Shared e-commerce 'marketplaces' for NGOs interested in online fundraising and fair trade. Lowers cost and increases traffic by bringing NGOs to a common, high-profile site, which spreads marketing and transaction server costs across dozens of organizations.
• Online Community: A WWW-based gathering place for activists and others interested in a specific issue or social change in general. Includes special content feeds as well as all information published using 'Action Applications'.

The one question that people always face when thinking about value added Internet products, (especially when they are part of a content generation project) is: 'where does the money come from?' There are two ways to generate the revenue needed to support value added content and tools: charging for the content, or charging for the tools themselves.

1. Charging for Content:

This is the most common model for recovering revenue for media or information products. If you publish a book, you sell it to people who want to read it. This approach will work for APC value added information which is extremely unique and which has a high degree of utility (e.g., online training or a database of foundations). In fact, selling this type of content could be the basis of strong partnerships between the APC and key NGO content providers. For the most part, however, this model will not work. People are rarely willing to pay for information on the Internet.

2. Charging for Publishing Tools / Publicity:

On the other hand, people are willing to pay to get their information published on the Internet or for the tools needed to do this publishing. They are also often willing to pay for additional publicity for the material they have posted. It is in these areas that the revenue needed to create viable online communities can most likely be generated. For example, shared database-driven publishing tools can provide NGOs with a low-cost way to publish information on their own sites at the same time as feeding information into a community-wide site. In this case, the revenue and content for a community-wide site flow from an existing need of NGOs to publish information on their own sites.

Here are some of the reasons that development, support and training services make sense for APC members:

1. Meeting Individual Needs

Unlike value added products, WWW development and training are can be customized infinitely. Every single aspect of every project can be changed or fine-tuned to meet the need of the NGO you are working with at the time. This means that the specific problems or needs of an organization can be quickly and adequately addressed. It also means that you establish yourself as someone who can competently and consistently solve problems for people.

2. Building the Capacity of Civil Society

Obviously, training sessions and support services build Internet capacity in the non-profit sector. But this is also true of other 'face-to-face' services. Every time you work directly with someone you are educating them about the benefits the Internet can bring to civil society, even if this is not what you set out to do. This informal education process is a significant benefit to both the community and APC members, as it builds the capacity to move forward on more sophisticated and useful projects.

3. Perpetual Research and Development

One of the good things about 'customised' services is that you are always doing something different, and you are always learning – about what is possible and about what your customers want. Whether it is in the development of new database techniques or new curriculum, the result is that someone is always paying you to do something slightly better than what you did the last time. This ongoing learning and development can easily be leveraged into the development of 'easy to replicate' value added products like those listed above. In fact, it is sometimes impossible to develop more 'productized' Internet tools without this informal, customer driven R&D process.

4. Building Relationships and Trust

The face-to-face aspect of offering development, training and support is key to building relationships and trust. These are the key ingredients for building loyalty and openness with the NGOs you serve. They are also important in maintaining your involvement as part of the social movements you serve. As a trusted participant, you are treated with a respect that would never be offered to the other 'suppliers' that provide products and services to NGOs.

5. Perpetual Feedback & Market Research

These relationships and trust provide an excellent mechanism for feedback. Having direct contact with NGOs who like you, and who like to work with you, is an excellent source of information about whether or not your products or services are meeting people's needs and wants.

6. Good Money for Good Work

Because most development, training and support work is 'customized' it can be a source of big money. Generally, this kind of custom work – e.g., developing a custom intranet, creating an online membership tracking base for a large NGO, or writing a custom training manual for a specific organization – can be charged at a much higher rate than 'off the shelf projects'. Most people understand that your time is valuable and are willing to pay as long as your rates are reasonable.

There are probably hundreds of services and sub-services that could be offered to NGOs needing help with the Internet. The following broad categories begin to illustrate the possibilities. The important question to ask about each of these examples, and any new ideas you develop, is 'how is this service unique from what the our competitors offer?’

• WWW Site & Database Development: Graphic design, interface development, database programming and other services related to the creation of advanced WWW sites. These services can often be 'packaged' with value added products that meet specific civil society needs.
• Face-to-face Training and Seminars: Customized courses and standard seminars on strategic uses of the Internet by NGOs. Might include Online Advocacy, Fundraising on the Internet, or Developing an Online Campaign.
• Planning and Communications Consulting: Working with NGOs on a case-by-case basis to develop a broad Internet and IT strategy. May also include costing and proposal writing.
• Content Gathering and Facilitation: Acting as an information broker or otherwise animating the collection of information within a particular sector or for a particular project.
• Custom Documentation: Unique documentation, promotional materials or other written materials for use in a large scale NGO Internet projects.

The final business category is 'traditional' Internet products and services. This really includes anything in the mainstream of Internet service offerings such as dial-up access, hosting and client side software. These are products and services that are already provided by a number of large companies at rates much lower than APC networks could ever offer. In general, these are the sorts of business units that APC networks may want to phase out or avoid. There is no point offering a lower quality service at a higher price than the competition simply in the name of serving NGOs.

1.6 New Product Options for APC Networks

• Automated, database-driven WWW publishing for Action Alerts and press releases;
• Automatic posting to your site and high traffic community-wide sites run by APC members;
• Increased publicity for your NGO and its campaigns;
• No need for technical skills to publish to a WWW site, simply use cut-and-paste;
• Control over who can post using existing APC security system (so you can use your existing password);
• Private 'control panel' for approval and management of postings;
• Low cost, off-the-shelf tool which can be quickly customized to look like your existing WWW site; and,
• Built using state-of-the-art Internet tools like Allaire Cold Fusion and SolidSQL.

• Easy to use WWW interface for set up and administration;
• 'Collapses time and space' for teams working from multiple locations;
• Reduces phone and face-to-face meeting costs;
• Discussion forums with access via WWW or e-mail;
• Document management, events calendar and other teamwork tools; and,
• Can be tied into other APC tools such as the 'Action Applications' series.

• Access to up to date information on important social change issues;
• An excellent place to list events and other information if you are a civil society organization;
• Postings from all APC Action Applications appear directly in the Online Community; and,
• Access to APC-wide discussion forums.

Setup: free. Most services: free. Publishing and news feed privileges: $US5.00/month.

Copyright © 1999 Association for Progressive Communications.

Footnote:

1.  More complete descriptions of the Action Applications, NGO Virtual Office and Online Community are included in the "Product Profiles" section.