Strypey
The excellent #Seeds podcast interviewed #HollyNorton, co-founder of #Aotearoa (#NZ) volunteering website 'Collaborate':
http://seeds.libsyn.com/holly-norton-on-co-founding-collaborate-the-social-enterprise-volunteering-app
The Collaborate team are exactly the kind of people we want in the #PlatformCooperative movement. They understand that digital platforms can be used to scale up people's ability to do good work in their communities.
Strypey
Sadly, the #Collaborate platform is a great example of how the #VultureCapitalist startup funding model has infected #SocialEnterprise thinking;
* they call their website an "app"
* Instead of building on and sharing their work as #FreeCode;
"You must not ... create derivative works based upon the Site of any kind whatsoever or any software or programming related thereto"
https://www.letscollaborate.co.nz/terms-and-conditions
* You can only login via FB (to be fair they're working on a native login):
https://www.letscollaborate.co.nz/faq/facebook-login
Strypey
* they are kind of reinventing the wheel, since there are already #TimeBanks all across the country running digital platforms to facilitate volunteering (in the form of "time trades"). Why build a new website, especially a proprietary one?
* Instead of taking steps to make sure they are in control of their technology, #Collaborate have outsourced it to a third-party. Who owns the code? What steps have they taken to make sure they can keep using it if Springload shuts down?
#Collaborate
Strypey
* if Collaborate themselves, are going to be funded via donations, grants, or fees paid by funded charities listing volunteer opportunities on their platform, it's not even a business, it's a charity. Why not liberate the code, encourage large community groups to set up their own instance (using their own branding not Collaborate's), and federate selectively with instances they trust?
Strypey
Everyone working directly on Collaborate is a volunteer, but "there are just a few ... base costs that you can't pay for with volunteering, things like accounting software"
#WTF? Why are charities paying for accounting software? On what planet does it make any sort of sense for a volunteer-run charity to be cross-subsidizing the expenses and profits of proprietary #SaaSS accounting platforms?!?
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