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We love finding new tools for our clients to use, and we recently came across a pretty cool one that was highlighted on the Progressive Exchange listserv*. GovTrack, an independent web tool that allows the public to track the activities of Congress, including voting records, legislation status and member information, has an API that makes it easier than ever for non-profit organizations to pull the information they need for free. And we know that in non-profit technology, free is good! Using GovTrack’s API, for which there is no key, you can track bills, votes, congressional districts, and even map the districts using Google maps. It’s very cool and can be very useful for organizations who focus on Big A Advocacy and legislation. The website pulls from sources like Thomas, the official Library of Congress legislation database, among others. It was nominated for a Webby Award in 2006, and is run by Joshua Tauberer, a PhD student and software developer. Companies like PICnet and those working in the non-profit community should be thinking about ways in which this data can be used – and not just for advocacy, but to simply inform their supporters how their congressional representatives are voting. It’s a great way to educate people on how politics can play a role in your issue or cause. So check it out! *The Progressive Exchange is an online community for non-profit technology organizations and individuals. People submit best practices, questions, job vacancies and more. A must-read for NPO techies! We’ve been working on the Hill for quite a few years now, and we’ve seen first-hand the amazing impact the Internet has had on the way congressional offices operate. It seems today that this powerful connectivity has certainly been well utilized by constituents during the current fiscal crisis. A local newspaper, The Hill, published a story on September 30 that said the House had disabled the email forms on the main house.gov Web site from processing messages sent by constituents to House offices. Without this intervention: the anticipated crash of the house.gov Web site.
While I want to do my best not to wade into the debate on the “logic puzzles” on offices’ Web sites, I am surprised that there wasn’t a better way for the Chief Administrative Office to manage the flood of information from concerned citizens.
Incredible hard work went into the effort, especially by Congresswoman Maloney’s lead Web site manager Anna Cielinski, who provided countless days and long nights into making the site a success. From the Congressional Management Foundation:
In addition to this, another PICnet client, Congressman Ed Markey, won a Bronze Mouse award, placing it in the top 30 congressional Web sites. Congratulations to both offices, and their PICnetters, on a job well done! You can read the 2006 Gold Mouse Report: Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill (PDF – 5MB) in its entirety to learn more about best practices for offices on the Hill. |
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When you do great work, and put your full effort and heart into your clients’ projects, it’s nice to be recognized for those efforts. Today, the 
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