ZaZengo: A SourceForge.net for Social Change

ZaZengo screenshotWhat happens when an ex-Microsoft developer and a repeat social entrepreneur join forces? In the case of ZaZengo co-founders, John Rae-Grant and Vicki Saunders, the result is a groundbreaking new initiative for creating and executing person-to-person social actions.

Unlike many social action platforms—Facebook Causes, Change.org, ChangingthePresent, and others—the user-generated projects on ZaZengo will not emphasize raising money or leveraging support for existing organizations. Instead, projects on ZaZengo will focus on creating impact in and of themselves, through the unpaid efforts of individuals working outside of organizations.

The ZaZengo model draws heavily on SourceForge.net, an open-source software development community founded in November 1999. SourceForge.net has been credited with the creation of numerous high-impact software projects. Audacity, one of the most popular tools for producing podcasts, is one such project. SourceForge.net boasts over 150,000 projects and more than 1 million users. Using SourceForge.net, companies can find and underwrite existing projects that address the software needs of their businesses.

By the same token, managers at nonprofits and program associates at foundations will be able to affiliate their organizations with specific ZaZengo projects. An organization can then list the impact of these projects on their website and ZaZengo profile. Example impact metrics include trees planted, meals served, resources shared, and events held. “Our platform puts the power of individual action in the hands of organizations. It’s an ‘outside-in’ process,” Rae-Grant said.

SourceForge.net also encourages software developers to publish an inventory of their skills. This feature allows project leads to find co-developers with relevant expertise. ZaZengo’s user profiles will permit individuals to list their social change skills and areas of interest. Project initiators can then recruit support from other users in the community based on this information.

ZaZengo is incorporated in California as a for-profit business. Saunders, a repeat social entrepreneur, sees the for-profit status as a potential force for good. “Business changes the world,” she said in our telephone interview last month. For Saunders, Rae-Grant, and their investors, the challenge is to turn a profit while building an innovative “project engine” for social transformation.

ZaZengo will make money by selling highly-targeted advertisements. The ads will appear on ZaZengo’s website and on nonprofit branded profile pages and widgets. A portion of all advertisement revenue will be shared with the nonprofits. At least one foundation has already taken note. The Case Foundation, co-creators of this year’s Giving Challenge, is helping ZaZengo to find nonprofit partners.

Rae-Grant left Microsoft for a career in social entrepreneurship after reading Paul Hawkin’s Natural Capitalism. In our interview last month, Rae-Grant said that his new mission is to “raise the IQ of the species.” A graduate of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Rae-Grant has since worked on numerous social innovation projects. Saunders first contacted Rae-Grant following a 1997 article in FastCompany that profiled TeamWorks, his previous company. They have been collaborating ever since.

ZaZengo version 1.0 will launch in mid-January 2008. If successful, ZaZengo will revolutionize the way organizations relate to their constituents. Anticipating this effect, ZaZengo’s slogan is “The quickest path to action.”