Civ.works is a nonprofit dedicated to improving civic participation through providing a social network platform for trusted news, education and civic engagement. The document discusses Civ.works' goals of countering the influence of money in politics by empowering citizens through sustained civic action on their platform. It provides examples of Civ.works' initiatives in 2017 such as launching their ad-free social network and integrating tools to collect and distribute civic actions to subscribers. It outlines Civ.works' plans to continue their mission in 2018 through supporting civic education and engagement.

1. civ.works
The 2018 Road to a Healthy Democracy
At civ.works we believe that trusted information, education and civic participation are the pillars of a healthy
democracy. We are dedicated to using technology to radically improve all three as rapidly as possible in
America and beyond.
Every election cycle is bitterly fought. Massive amounts of money pour into campaigns often succeeding
in causing people to vote against their self-interests or not vote at all. Money is often directed at specific
campaigns or issues, while little attention is cast upon long-term organizing infrastructure for working
families and the impoverished in America.
In 2017 we designed and launched civ.works, a privacy-protected, ad-free social network designed to
empower people through sustained, meaningful civic action. Starting with an open-source software
platform, we integrated tools which automate the collection of civic actions at the local, state, national and
international level and then carefully distribute them to our subscribers based upon their issue preference and
geography. We also funded the implementation of group tools, which allow advocacy organizations to use our
privacy-protected platform for their constituents.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome civ.works. It’s a wonderful idea, with great promise to provide a
platform for meaningful civic action without the severely distorting interference of concentrated
power, private or state. Civ.works is insulated from the forces that have been so destructive of
functioning democracy and is readily available for the kinds of constructive use that are so badly
needed today.”
–Professor Noam Chomsky, December, 2017
Help us support our 2018 goals by donating at https://fund.civ.works
Invest in Planned 2018 Innovation
SmartALEC/Consensus
$27,000
NewsTrust
$24,000
Virtual TownWorks
$24,000
Mobile Platform
$24,000
civ.works Core
$48,000
This feature provides a
guided social mechanism
for subscribers
committed to greater
participation in civics
and democracy through
consensus-building and
model law/policy.
We will partner with
ProPublica, Politifact and
other emerging services
to provide a trust-rating
overlay to news shared on
civ.works.
This will radically
improve the participatory
relationship between
elected officials and
elected bodies and their
constituents by creating
private virtual townhalls.
This will provide key civ.
works features in a new
mobile app for Apple and
Android users.
This funds our secure
cloud hosting and
allows us to make core
improvements to the civ.
works platform.

2. Throughout 2018 we will continue to focus on our mission of increasing civic participation. To support our mission, we
will:
• Provide long-term infrastructure to support the distribution of trusted news.
• Acquire or create readily accessible civic education media.
• Use gamification and behavioral reinforcement to sustain meaningful engagement.
We expect to become economically viable by growing our monthly recurring paid subscription base and hire a small core
team as our recurring revenue grows with our base.
We are turning words into action. Take a growing, diverse community, identify common values and facilitate people
working together on societal outcomes important for all—regardless of political “side.” Support the dialogue with trust-
rated news and information, and support the most popular solutions with adaptable model law and policy to support
either the legislative process or a citizen-led ballot initiative. Together we will strengthen democracy through trusted
information, education and engagement using a 21st Century “Townsquare” approach.
We believe the civ.works platform provides vital, long-term organizing infrastructure for all people who aspire toward
opportunity, justice and equality for this and future generations.
A Look Toward the Future of Civic Engagement
2017: Together, We Launched civ.works
civ.works aggregates hundreds of civic action opportunities at the local, state and national level to our
subscribers from organizations such as:
Civic Works began
operations as an IRS
approved 501(c)(3)
non-profit dedicated to
civic engagement with
a small volunteer team.
We completed the initial
design and a phased-
implementation
approach for the civ.
works platform.
We began
crowdfunding efforts.
We built software to
automatically collect
civic actions from
sources such as Activism
Engine and Resistance
Calendar conforming to
the Open Supporter Data
Interface (OSDI).
We integrated RSS news
delivery from trusted
sources (The New York
Times, The Guardian,
Fair Observer and
ProPublica).
We successfully
integrated civic action
opportunities into the
civ.works platform.
1,000 subscriber
milestone.
We are currently working
on an integration
of model law and
policy from the Public
Leadership Institute.
We successfully
launched the social
application for civ.works.