Social Networking for Disaster Relief

by Elizabeth Hanson

The Disaster Relief Rotarian Action Group (DRRAG) was put to the test recently, providing relief for communities affected by the November 2008 earthquake in Pakistan. When the call to action came-delivering supplies for 1,200 emergency shelters for those who lost their homes in the earthquake-the group turned to social networking to get the job done.

A subsidiary of Rotary International, DRRAG's mandate is to support and unify Rotarian relief and development activities locally, regionally and worldwide-including bringing supplies to a devastated earthquake site in Pakistan-in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, stimulate recovery, and mitigate the short and long term effects of hazards.

To provide both a timely emergency response to victims' needs and long term help with recovery, DRRAG turned to an online community solution. With its social networking features, the community has enabled the group to unify and improve communication and collaboration, and ultimately increase the effectiveness and efficiency of Rotary's response to natural disasters.

"Igloo's online community platform gives DRRAG the capacity to engage Rotarians in our disaster relief outreach and provides an effective mechanism for action," says John Eberhard, DRRAG Chairman. "By using a powerful and proven community solution, DRRAG will significantly increase the speed with which our member clubs coordinate relief efforts, funnel donations and provide support for the implementing agencies on the ground."

Making connections that matter
DRRAG needed a solution that would bring together their dispersed membership of 1.2 million and help Rotarians, their clubs and districts to assist communities in establishing effective preparedness systems, programs and structures; in recovering and rebuilding after a disaster; and mitigating the consequences of a disaster.

The online network model is a good fit for DRRAG because it mimics the overall structure of the group. Comprised of a network of networks, DRRAG is made up of 34 districts, with each district hosting 50 - 125 clubs.

The organizations needed a better, faster way to connect, interact, share knowledge and collaborate to coordinate relief efforts, funnel donations and provide support for implementing agencies on the ground. Ideally, the DRRAG community would be accessible from anywhere in the world, giving Rotary members quick and easy access to the information, knowledge, skills and resources required for disaster relief efforts.

DRRAG's long term objective with this online community initiative is to be regarded as a trusted response and rebuilding organization, one that is invited to participate with the major international NGOs, the U.N. and government-related organizations.

Specific long-term objectives include becoming a major influence in global natural disaster relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts, being recognized as major sources of volunteer and financial support in responses to natural disasters, increasing DRRAG membership by providing an outlet for service to potential Rotarians interested in disaster relief, and receiving major funding from governments and international organizations.

Making a world of difference
DRRAG turned to Igloo Inc., a Canadian startup, to provide their online community. Igloo develops online communities for organizations, combining Web 2.0 technologies with on-demand hosting, consulting, and all of the support services required for a sustainable and successful community deployment.

Launched on December 2, 2008, the DRRAG online community securely connects Rotarians using a collection of easy to use Web 2.0 tools. Members can participate, collaborate and share in the community using blogs, wikis, forums, photo galleries and custom maps. The community gives members the opportunity to share disaster related articles and photos with other Rotarians, along with access to DRRAG's online resource library.

Members manage all of this information and their contacts using personal profiles, which outline key areas of skills, experience and expertise and are accessible to every member in the community.

The community also provides regular news updates from the field on specific relief efforts and a collection of invaluable resources directed to the dozens of agencies that respond to global crises. Members can subscribe to receive automatic notification when information is added or updated.

To advance its objective of becoming a recipient of funding from governments and international organizations, the DRRAG community also supports e-commerce transactions. Members can register online and plans are under way to expand the DRRAG membership model to include the general public. Online donations will also be supported.

With the network now fully operational, members from more than 200 countries can instantly tap into the DRRAG network when a disaster occurs to solicit support from other Rotary members, offer volunteering support and access links to other international emergency management NGOs and governments and RSS feeds of the latest news updates.

Inside IGLOO
Igloo's history is entrenched in the not-for-profit sector. It began within the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a nonprofit research centre founded by Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. Believing that the Internet and other technologies offer tremendous potential for supporting and facilitating change, CIGI created a free, global online research network that connects researchers, educators and practitioners around the world.

In 2008, with a strong heritage of solving global issues and CIGI as a founding partner, the technology unit within CIGI, called Igloo, spun off and became a for-profit software company. Its mission is to help organizations improve efficiency and achieve results using an integrated community platform of collaboration, knowledge sharing and Web 2.0 social networking tools.

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