ACTion Alexandria, a new citizen engagement Website, provides interactive tools that make it easier for residents to take a more active role in addressing community problems. ACTion Alexandria will connect individuals to nonprofit organizations they want to support, but with a strictly local focus. Individuals have the opportunity to take action on behalf of nonprofits working to improve the community.
Goals
An initiative of ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria's community foundation (Learn more about ACT for Alexandria), ACTion Alexandria is a new online civic engagement initiative with three main goals
▪ Create a vibrant online platform that inspires offline action, where challenges are posted, solutions are debated, successes and failures are archived, data is both disseminated and captured, stories are shared, and essential civic relationships developed.
▪ Improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable residents in a cost-efficient manner through a platform that provides everyone a voice and the opportunity to identify problems and offer solutions.
▪ Engage residents and business people in problem solving to strengthen community ties and increase each individual’s stake in creating positive outcomes for specific community problems.
ACTion Alexandria was launched in two phases:
Phase I, September: The ACTion Alexandria blog was launched to begin building community awareness for the project.
Phase II, February 7th: The ACTion Alexandria online platform was launched to provide citizens and organizations with the power to launch collective actions, to share news and information, and to discuss and change their community.
ACTion Alexandria Vision
▪ Empower citizens to take collective action on behalf of themselves and local organizations
▪ Enable citizens to submit community challenges for consideration, debate, prioritization and response from organizations and citizens themselves
▪ Support local organizations in their calls for collective action by citizens
▪ Connect citizens and organizations online to supplement and increase offline collective action
▪ Cultivate the next generation of philanthropists by reaching out to students and young adults in the community and strengthening their desire to become active and lifelong civic participants
▪ Develop a scalable model that other communities can easily and affordably adopt