doGoodr connects people in need with offers to help
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
It’s with great satisfaction that I can announce the launch of doGoodr, the project that’s taken the majority of my work time for the past year.
Our mission is to facilitate charitable and philanthropic endeavors, increase public participation in initiatives to do good, and maximize the public benefits for those most in need.
To accomplish this we’ve developed doGoodr: A web site and suite of Internet-enabled tools that allow anyone with a legitimate need and anyone wishing to offer them assistance, to find each other in the fastest, most efficient way possible.
If you have a cause or project that you need help with — anything from large-scale natural disaster relief to a local “save the soccer field” campaign — you can post it to doGoodr along with details on what you’re doing, who you’re helping, and the resources you need to do it. Likewise, if you’re looking to get involved in a charitable cause by donating time, money, or anything else, you can use the site to find projects that suit your interests.
The doGoodr Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit California public benefit corporation.
About the project
This project includes two web sites, doGoodr and the companion doGoodr Fund informational site. Both are based on Ruby on Rails.
I am the sole front-end developer on the project and wrote around 99% of the HTML and CSS, as well as some supporting JavaScript, Rails view code, and controller logic. The team consists of myself, three other developers focusing on JavaScript and the Rails backend, and the founder of the project who also did the design work. The work has progressed through numerous design iterations to reach this stage and development is continuing post-launch, with an overhaul of some of the key interaction planned as well as continuous refinement.
I also serve in a general technical advisory role, helping to make decisions regarding various technologies and techniques used for the site, and as a standards and usability advocate.
How you can help
Get involved! Our launch last week was a “soft launch” with no public fanfare. This is the kind of project that increases in value as more people use it, so if you’ve got any sort of dream project, post it! Use of the site is free and you just may find the help you need.
