Crowdflower: Toward a crowdsourced world from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

One of the most interesting start-ups that keeps popping up on my radar screen is Crowdflower, which connects nonprofits and companies with people around the globe looking to work on crowdsourced tasks.

It’s a fascinating glimpse at future contract labor models and at how work relationships are becoming more distributed, global, ephemeral and efficient.

Crowdflower takes simple tasks and breaks them down, using a global network of workers to determine, say, if a tweet about a brand is negative or positive, or if a piece of content violates a site’s community guidelines.

The person might spend 2 minutes on a task, an hour, or more. “The advantage is that the person doesn’t have to drive to work, they don’t even have to sign up for a website. They can just come to a job post, accomplish a task and get paid — in minutes,” says Crowdflower CEO and founder Lukas Biewald.

I spent three minutes chatting with Lukas at an extremely noisy rooftop party at South by Southwest Interactive. The video won’t win any awards for aesthetics — I was being jostled while holding a Kodak Zi8 hi-def camcorder — but it’s evidence that when you meet interesting people, it’s good to have a handheld recorder in your pocket.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo

One mind-blowing angle: You’d be surprised at the number of people willing to perform tasks, such as in a Facebook game, in exchange for virtual currency that can buy them more trees in Zynga’s Farmville or more weapons in Mafia Wars. “People don’t realize how much this virtual money means to people,” he says.

Its website says Crowdflower provides access to an “elastic workforce” of more than a half million workers in over 70 countries — including refugee camps and developing nations where a few dollars go a long way.

As I understand this, CrowdFlower workers (they call them “customers”) complete large-scale jobs on a piecemeal basis in a quick, efficient and inexpensive manner. Similar in some respects to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, the arrangement is task-based and avoids the need for lead time and overhead associated with traditional hiring and outsourcing.

Samasource, which we’ve written about in here and here, has a similar but somewhat different model that’s focused on ongoing work relationships with specific groups in developing countries.

Both Lukas and Samasource CEO Leila Chirayath were on a panel at the Commonwealth Club this spring that I caught. Crowdlower, Samasource, Ushahidi and FrontlineSMS were also involved in Haiti relief efforts using crowdsourcing and mobile phones, which we wrote about in February.

Related

• Samasource enables socially responsible outsourcing

• Helping Haitians via mobile, crowdsourcing & social media

• An app to support refugees working in Africa

• Harnessing the crowd for social good

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Green Mountain Coffee from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

I‘ve been swamped by work and speaking engagements this spring, so I’m only now able to edit and publish the interviews I conducted at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin three months ago.

First up is a six-minute conversation with Amanda Cooper, new media specialist for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (its consumer site is here). I had heard of Green Mountain but wasn’t aware of just how much they’ve been doing in the social good space. The company has been donating 5 percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental causes for a number of years, with a focus on helping to alleviate poverty and hunger through its coffee supply chain.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo

Green Mountain works with partner universities, such as Dartmouth, to send interns down to the coffee fields of Nicaragua. “One of our interns lived down there for three months interviewing coffee farmers, spending time with their families, breaking bread over dinner and working on the farms with them,” Amanda says. “So it was a really life-changing experience for him.” The company puts a premium on getting to know the lives of the people they’re working with and the impact the company is having.

Green Mountain has also supported fair trade guidelines and organic coffee purchases since 2001.

The company works with nonprofits like Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services. “We’re looking to not just be a funder but be a partner,” she says.

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The nonprofit presence at SXSW has been growing steadily over the past couple of years. In 2008, I was on one of the few nonprofit panels on the agenda. It was organized by Ed Schipul. At the end of that panel, we all hoped there would be a larger nonprofit presence on the agenda for this 2009. And yes, indeed, in 2009 there were many more panel proposals about or by folks who work with nonprofits and voting. Last year, many more nonprofit panels made it onto the agenda and there was even a nonprofit lounge hosted by BeaconFire.

So, let’s get out the nonprofit vote for panels at SXSW!

Last year, there was an event called “Social Media for Social Good” organized by Jeff Pulver that prompted quite a rich discussion on whether social media for fundraising and marketing can effect real on the ground change. There’s quite a buzz right now about whether or not “Slacktivism” doing activism online, all the time, can effect change. (There’s even a panel proposal for Slacktivism.)

These ideas inspired the SXSW panel proposal I submitted for 2010:

Crowdsourcing for Innovative Social Change
Social media builds buzz and raises money, but what about real, on-the-ground change? The Social Change Challenge will crowdsource innovative ideas from nonprofits to change the world. We’ll share big ideas for using social media for nonprofit program delivery and some good tips for crowdsourcing for social change.

The panelists include Holly Ross, NTEN; David Neff, American Cancer Society; Kari Dunn Saratovsky, Case Foundation; Amy Sample Ward, Netsquared; and Joe Solomon. And like last year’s ROI Poetry Slam, our session will be interactive, thought-provoking, and dare I say, fun! In addition, there’ll be lots of learning shared freely.

Jordan Viator invited me to be a panelist on this panel and I agreed because David Neff is a fellow panelist and I bet Jordan will make him wear an apron! Also rock star Carie Lewis from the Human Society is participating.

The Real House Wives of Social Media
You’ve heard the buzz around how nonprofit organizations and corporations are using social media for social good. Now hear from the “real housewives of social media” who are driving successful online campaigns, as well as others who are helping lead the social media revolution.

So, yes, please vote for these panels, but …. There were over 2,200 panel ideas submitted and they only have space for 300. I just scanned the list to SXSW in search of nonprofit oriented panels (in addition the two I submitted) and found a number of them for your consideration. Please try to vote for as many nonprofit panels as possible.

(And, if you submitted a nonprofit panel – and I managed to miss it while scanning 2200 in ten minutes – please add the link and description in a comment. I’ll do another Get Out The Nonprofit Vote at SXSW Post and include. I will also be tweeting this post.)

Advanced Brand Monitoring: Let the Haters Hate: This panel will get into the whys and hows to monitor your brand in a social world. you’ll hear case studies of social media disasters and how they could have been prevented, as well as how brands have dealt with potential PR nightmares. Twitterstorm, anyone? Carie Lewis.

Service 2.0: Evaluating Next-Gen Volunteer Opportunity Platforms: Forget about the high school community service club: The next generation of volunteering platforms is here — from Google’s All for Good to the President’s Serve.gov. But can they also combat apathy? We’ll speak with experts about recent efforts to revolutionize the service space and see what gaps remain. Submitted by Michael Silberman.

Change: Examining Competitions For Social Change: Organizations, foundations, even individuals are creating social innovation competitions, hoping to drive social change projects and solutions into the global marketplace. What are these new competitions about—are they working? How do we—innovators, entrepreneurs—know what’s going to make real-world impact and where do we start? Let’s discuss: join us! Submitted by Amy Sample Ward.

Community Funded Reporting: The news industry is dying but in its wake are new business models to support investigative journalism. One of these is “community funded reporting” which is being pioneered by Spot.us but is happening around the country by various individuals. What is it? How does it work? What are its pitfalls? Where does it surpass the traditional advertising model? This will be a conversation that explores the changing media landscape and how the web can rise to the challenge of supporting our communities and their information needs. Submitted by Dave Cohn.

Evolution, Creation and Extinction (of the organization) Organizations, political campaigns, newspapers. While they’re scrambling to figure out “new media” alternate entities spring up around them that exist only online. Is one better than the other? Are older groups evolving quickly enough? Is it better to start from scratch? Will new “online” groups drive their predecessors to extinction? Submitted by Ted Fickes

Networking Good: How to Win Money and Mobilize People! Social networks are transforming how people support causes, how ideas are shared and how nonprofits raise money. Today’s online communities go beyond posting photos or finding dates—they are building social capital, increasing awareness and raising millions of charitable dollars. Learn from innovators how to leverage the web for good! Submitted by Michael Smith.

Can Double Clicking Save the World? Sl’ack-Ti-vism. Noun. Taking action for social change without lifting a finger. As the latest technology allows people to “engage” from their computers/phones rather than getting their hands dirty IRL, will this impact the future of volunteerism? A panel of experts will debate the pros & cons of couch potato activism. Submitted by Jacob Colker.

Digital Protests This session will explore the role that social media plays in protests, through the lens of recent events like Iran and the American health care debate. The panel will cover the various tools (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook) that are being used to elevate protests, examine the benefits and drawbacks of the internet’s involvement and whether social media makes protests more or less efficient, and discuss the issue of authenticity in information dissemination. Submitted by Ramya Raghavan.

The Socially Conscious Geek: Makin’ Money While Doin’ Good: Can you make a living as a geek without sacrificing your ideals? Definitely. These pros have carved out a niche working with mission-driven, ethical clients in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors – and want to show you how to bring your values to work while keeping a roof over your head. Submitted by Leif Utne.

Non-Profits and Social Media: Not the Usual Suspects: A panel of 5 nonprofit leaders, social media monsters, and how they leverage their social networks, to advance their respective organizations missions, collaborate with one another and use social media for social good. Submitted by David Neff.

Handheld Awesome Detectors: Sustainable Apps Making more sustainable choices is getting easier with help ubiquitous information, thanks to passionate geeks. Check in with the game changers beautifully hacking tech to fight climate change. Learn direct what it takes to change behavior at the plug, grocery, sushi bar, and tractor. Submitted by Rachel Weidinger.

Connecting Communities for the Common Good: Owning Online Organizing When community transcends “place,” how do you create dynamic online spaces for activists to connect and take action? How do you use the latest technologies to build active networks and roadmaps for action? How do you balance online action with offline engagement? Come to this session and find out! Submitted Kari Dunn Saratovsky.

LIVESTRONG: The Lance Armstrong Foundation Takes Advocacy Digital: LIVESTRONG has taken the fight against cancer digital, connecting people and communities to drive social change. Using new media tools, we’re recruiting people around the world to build a grassroots movement to help raise awareness, fund research and end the stigma many cancer survivors face. Come hear how we’re changing the world. Submitted by Doug Ulman.

Doing More With Less: How Not-for-Profits Leverage Technology for Change: They’ve won Webby Awards. The sites attract millions. And the user-adoption numbers are ridiculously high. How is it that not for profits are managing to use communications technologies to rock social change–when they’ve got pennies to spend? Ami Dar and Nancy Lublin, two social change leaders, present best practices and spot current trends. Submitted by Nancy Lublin.

Museum APIs: What Are They Good For? In Museums, context can be hard to come by. We have basic metadata but the richness of object records is so varied that it ultimately limits use of collections information. Cultural institutions are increasingly developing APIs and linked-data repositories. Who are these for? And what can we build with them? Submitted by Piotr Adamczyk.

Cultivating the Web: Netroots Action for Grassroots Food: The “organic” nature of social media creates fertile ground for activists, but how can online advocacy move beyond e-actions and Facebook Fan pages, translating to local, on-the-ground actions? This panel will explore various innovative and creative uses of social media and online technology to support the local food movement. Submitted by Leslie Hatfield.

Social Change for Zero Dollars a Day Using Social Networks: Join SM4SC’s co-founders, Gradon Tripp, Meg Fowler and Matthew Knell as they talk through their experiences raising money for needy charities with no fixed budget. Topics covered include pro-social brand development, the real value of social capital and networks and harnessing social media for good. Submitted by Gradon Tripp.

Will Kiva Kill Your Nonprofit? Donations 2.0: Connecting donors directly to the beneficiaries of contributions is a game-changing fundraising strategy. Will traditional nonprofits need to adopt new technologies and fundraising models as donors demand greater accountability for their funds? This vibrant, moderated discussion will include representatives from Kiva, OptINnow, and 2 national advocacy organizations. By Skylar Woodward.

Generation Y and the Future of Nonprofit Communications Generation Y engages more frequently and deeply with nonprofits than any previous generation. Bleeding edge technology has allowed for nonprofits to reach millions of people with nonexistent budgets. This panel will go over success stories from nonprofit organizations and professionals. Learn the secrets of social media, interactive technology, and grassroots support. Submitted by Sarah Davies.

Yoga For Social Networkers: Striking The Right Pose: There are hundreds of social networks, but only one you. Instead of overextending yourself, you need to bring focus on the important things and let go of the rest. Learn how to center your social media practice and balance your online activities. Bring your yoga mat! Submitted by Amadie Hart.

So please go vote! If you submitted a nonprofit panel for SXSW and I missed it, please share the link and title in the description. I’ll do another round up in the next week or so.

This post originally appeared on Beth’s blog.

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The cause-filled life from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Sloane Berrent, who publishes TheCausemopolitan and blogs at LAist and GirlsinTech.net, talks about causes and building community in this 3 1/2-minute video interview. I caught up with her a few minutes after the LA tech scene session she co-moderated at South by Southwest 2009 in Austin; the session drew about 120 people.

Sloane, who practices what she preaches, is heading to the Philippines as a @kiva fellow for 12 weeks. She’ll be at the Kiva fellows social Wednesday at 6:30 pm in San Francisco. She’s already a good way toward raising the $7,500 she needs for air fare, vaccinations, work vise, lodging, transportation and daily living costs — you can support her here.

In the video, she talks about the cause-filled life and the powerful combination of social media tools and face-to-face interaction in raising funds for worthy causes.

Watch or embed the video on Vimeo
Download the .mp4 video from Archive.org

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