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A Billion Messages for Good: Twilio.org Launches for Nonprofits

55 points by shakes 13y ago

jeffiel 13y ago
We're really excited to see what hackers can do to improve the world... Let's do this!
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  Jeff, this is awesome. Thank you.
- gscott 13y ago
  I am working on a front-end system for non-profits that will use there Twilio account information, runcampaigns.com. A discounted cost to support 501c(3) organizations will be very good.
  - atwebb 13y ago
    Please tell me you're aiming for Convio and will have a reasonably reliable system...
    - gscott 13y ago
      Eventually but one step at a time. I ran a groupware platform for 9 years that was very reliable. This is my reboot of that but it needs to make money this time around so I am focusing on managing data and communication that leads to better fundraising results.
- troyk 13y ago
  Jeff, we use twilio for short codes and sell primarily to non-profits. This is awesome for those that want their own short codes, but I'd really like to pass a discounted rate to non-profits through!
- woodhull 13y ago
  This is awesome! Thanks for being such a leader.
analogousboy 13y ago
Hmm... from the title I thought they were literally going to give a billion messages away to nonprofits, but it's just a discount into their (presumably) huge margins. Most companies give non-profits a break if they ask, and many have policies about it. I don't see why this is news.
jmduke 13y ago
An idea (that might already exist): SMS reminders to take prescriptions. I know, for example, that my great-aunt struggles with this at 79: she's not debilitated or anything, but she's old and doesn't have the greatest memory, and remembering that she has one prescription to take twice every six hours, one to take every four hours, and one every 12 hours makes for a difficult life. (Hell, that's hard for me to remember.)
- neurotech1 13y ago
  I worked on that idea as part of a team for a while. As I recall, it wasn't so much the SMS sending, but the interface design. Without compatibility with PHRs (Personal(Electronic) Health Records) transferring the notifications would be cumbersome pretty soon.
- larubbio 13y ago
  I work at Grameen Foundation, and we do that in developing countries. The system we are developing, called MOTECH, is a modular application that can be used for Pill Reminders, tracking appointments or sending periodic educational messages. We have a lot of work still to do, both on our documentation and our code. You can read about the system here http://www.motechsuite.org/ http://www.motechsuite.org/ or watch a video describing some of our implementations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzYy6NETvGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzYy6NETvGI (there are shorter videos in our channel if you don't have 14 minutes). Our code is on google code if you want to check it out or even help out http://code.google.com/p/motech/ http://code.google.com/p/motech/

55 points by shakes 13y ago

jeffiel 13y ago

We're really excited to see what hackers can do to improve the world... Let's do this!

toomuchtodo 13y ago
Jeff, this is awesome. Thank you.
gscott 13y ago
I am working on a front-end system for non-profits that will use there Twilio account information, runcampaigns.com. A discounted cost to support 501c(3) organizations will be very good.
- atwebb 13y ago
  Please tell me you're aiming for Convio and will have a reasonably reliable system...
  - gscott 13y ago
    Eventually but one step at a time. I ran a groupware platform for 9 years that was very reliable. This is my reboot of that but it needs to make money this time around so I am focusing on managing data and communication that leads to better fundraising results.
troyk 13y ago
Jeff, we use twilio for short codes and sell primarily to non-profits. This is awesome for those that want their own short codes, but I'd really like to pass a discounted rate to non-profits through!
woodhull 13y ago
This is awesome! Thanks for being such a leader.

analogousboy 13y ago

Hmm... from the title I thought they were literally going to give a billion messages away to nonprofits, but it's just a discount into their (presumably) huge margins. Most companies give non-profits a break if they ask, and many have policies about it. I don't see why this is news.

jmduke 13y ago

An idea (that might already exist): SMS reminders to take prescriptions. I know, for example, that my great-aunt struggles with this at 79: she's not debilitated or anything, but she's old and doesn't have the greatest memory, and remembering that she has one prescription to take twice every six hours, one to take every four hours, and one every 12 hours makes for a difficult life. (Hell, that's hard for me to remember.)

neurotech1 13y ago
I worked on that idea as part of a team for a while. As I recall, it wasn't so much the SMS sending, but the interface design. Without compatibility with PHRs (Personal(Electronic) Health Records) transferring the notifications would be cumbersome pretty soon.
larubbio 13y ago
I work at Grameen Foundation, and we do that in developing countries. The system we are developing, called MOTECH, is a modular application that can be used for Pill Reminders, tracking appointments or sending periodic educational messages. We have a lot of work still to do, both on our documentation and our code. You can read about the system here http://www.motechsuite.org/ http://www.motechsuite.org/ or watch a video describing some of our implementations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzYy6NETvGI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzYy6NETvGI (there are shorter videos in our channel if you don't have 14 minutes). Our code is on google code if you want to check it out or even help out http://code.google.com/p/motech/ http://code.google.com/p/motech/