SPARKS, Nev. – A Vietnamese student group in Northern California committed to cultural awareness and educating youth believe this technology will help them achieve their goals. A group whose aim is to fight poverty, AIDS and other illnesses in Africa is also using this technology. A mothers’ support group that wants to make a difference is also online here. A chapter of the Lions Club, the largest service organization in the world, is also online here.
In fact if you were to scroll through the diverse set of "online communities," you may be baffled that this technology was only launched a week ago.
The goal of Group Members Only (www.GroupMembersOnly.com) is to bring together all the non-profit, NGOs and other organizations together into a network of global online communities.
"By doing this, we are providing an infrastructure to allow these organizations to better serve the world. We are doing our part by helping them to do their part better," says Rohan Hall, author/social entrepreneur and president/CEO of Group Members Only.
Since its launch on June 12, the site already has members from more than 20 different countries.
Hall believes that a strategic advantage that multi-national organizations have is their access to technology. After spending 20 years of building technologies for these large organizations, he would like to give the same level of access freely to non-profits and other service organizations.
"What if Bono is right?" Hall said. "Can we eliminate extreme poverty in our lifetime? Can we do better with helping victims of disasters and refugees across the world? Could organizations and researchers use this kind of technology to collaborate on cures for diseases like HIV/AIDS? Can small groups in Africa raise funds to feed themselves from an Internet cafe?"
"I don’t know," Hall said, "but based on the people who are already utilizing this technology from as near as California, and as far as France, Cambodia and Zambia, I am encouraged."
Mabadiliko Care International, an NGO from Mombasa, Kenya, whose focus is to eliminate poverty from their community and to help the "less privileged and disadvantaged children, youths, widows, and the elderly," did not ask for money, or even food. Their request was simple: "We have a feeding program but need more plates, more desks and textbooks for the school where we have 70 children."
"I think these people can now have a voice, and even more, they can have a chance," Hall says. "This is why we created this technology."
The technology features include the ability to raise funds, recruit members and volunteers, communicate, collaborate and network with your group, as well as with other organizations. For more information, visit www.groupmembersonly.com.
