How Open-Source Software Empowers Nonprofits And The Global Communities They Serve

Written by Steve Francis, Tech Matters

Whether it’s Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, Shopify or something else, businesses rely on standard software applications for efficient daily operation. But what if this software weren’t available? That’s often the case for nonprofits. Market forces fail to deliver the software needed to help these organizations generate greater impact — there simply aren’t enough customers with enough money to attract serious app makers. Left to fill a critical IT void, what can these philanthropic enterprises do? Many simply try to make do without adequate tools to help fulfill their mission.

One particular area where this challenge is evident is climate. Thousands of nonprofits strive to address the effects of a changing climate and its impact on communities worldwide. Headlines often go to big organizations doing high-profile work (planting trees, for instance) in well-known places. Money goes to large-scale commercial agriculture or new technologies — because that’s where profits are most easily made. But thousands of other communities of small farmers that aren’t as visible or profitable need help too. These communities come together to tackle a number of interrelated problems: climate, soil health and productivity, biodiversity and human health and welfare. They envision a more sustainable future.

The reality is that software is crafted to meet market needs, but these communities don’t represent a profitable market. Every major industry has its own software applications and a network of consultants to tune that software for optimal performance. A farm cooperative in less developed parts of the world seeking to maximize value for sustainably harvested produce faces very different challenges than do any of these business users. Often they need to collect and manipulate data in the field, on whatever mobile device they have, with little or no connectivity. Modern software systems are rarely designed to operate in such an environment; they assume the latest devices and continuous connectivity.

“It’s clear that the social sector is often decades behind the business sector. But field-changing leaders working to better the world deserve field-changing tools.”

“I’ve spent 30 years developing technologies to solve critical social issues,” said Jim Fruchterman, founder and CEO of Tech Matters, a Silicon Valley nonprofit focused on bringing technological innovation to all of humanity. “It’s clear that the social sector is often decades behind the business sector. But field-changing leaders working to better the world deserve field-changing tools.”

The Role of Open-Source Software

As the world faces escalating environmental and social challenges, the role of open-source software technology and open data becomes increasingly vital. Open-source software is the foundation that keeps the internet running smoothly. It's behind the scenes, helping all the websites and apps you love function properly. “Without open-source software and their ubiquitous code-creation networks, firms would pay an estimated 3.5 times more to build the software and platforms that run their businesses, or roughly $8.8 trillion,” concluded Harvard Business School assistant professor Frank Nagle and colleagues in a recent study.

The idea of creating open-source software to support communities and the environment isn’t new. In 2007, the Conservation Measures Partnership and Foundations of Success, collectively representing dozens of partner organizations, recognized the need to guide conservation efforts through improved systems. They aimed to improve conservation results by providing optimized project management software tailored specifically to guide field practitioners. They turned to Benetech, a nonprofit open-source software developer, for assistance. The resulting software, Miradi, remains widely used today.

Critical Conservation Tools

But project management is only one of many necessary applications. Making easy-to-use, affordable tools available to local civic, indigenous and governmental leaders would empower them to gather and make sense of data and plan for a world they want to leave as a legacy for future generations. These tools would enable them to educate funders, motivate their communities and measure their results, delivering the efficiency and effectiveness the business world often takes for granted.

Providing those capabilities is one reason several organizations came together to form 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People (1000L). Their common vision to accelerate community-led sustainable development guided them to create software tools, educational materials and funding mechanisms that will serve hundreds of organizations. They agreed on a common approach: Encourage businesses, civic groups, nonprofits and local governments to come together, find common ground on their community’s problems and pursue solutions that improve human lives and result in more sustainable ecosystems.

“The right open-source software can make a tremendous difference to communities that have never had access to the power-multiplier that technology can deliver.”

The Terraso software tools created by 1000L are being built after hundreds of hours of conversation with communities. In response to open-ended questions, some themes have emerged:

• It is critical to empower communities themselves to collect data about local conditions. This data has the power to rally support, influence policy and encourage investment.
• It is hard to collect and manage data because individuals and philanthropic projects come and go.
• Grassroots sustainable development and conservation organizations particularly need reliable, easy-to-use tools for data visualization and mapping.
• Communication is essential: Sharing a powerful story mobilizes action.

Perhaps the most compelling Terraso tool is Story Maps. A story map combines text, pictures, video and map locations to tell a story about a place, helping viewers better understand local challenges and opportunities.

For example, working in the Colombian Andes, the Risaralda Model Forest (BMR) landscape partnership has started using Terraso’s tools to enhance its work in promoting sustainable farming, conserving biodiversity and strengthening livelihoods.

“Story maps have been a vital tool to get to know our territory, to highlight those experiences that need to be told and later replicated in other contexts that suffer from similar problems or conflicts,” said Laura Valentina Giraldo, a member of the Risaralda Model Forest executive team.

For a similar goal, Digital Democracy has created a collection of tools designed for indigenous groups to capture their stories and map their territories. In 2005, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative created KoboToolbox, an open-source field data collection app designed to work without an internet connection. Likewise, Digital Green is using artificial intelligence to bring the best scientific knowledge and agricultural practices to more than 5 million rural farmers in India and Africa.

“Our tools have been critical in helping Indigenous groups win landmark cases in support of their territorial rights,” said Emily Jacobi, founder and co-executive director of Digital Democracy. “The right open-source software can make a tremendous difference to communities that have never had access to the power-multiplier that technology can deliver.”