myImpact.org

The mission of myImpact.org is to engage more Americans in citizen service by providing online tools and resources to volunteers and service organizations that demonstrate the impact of volunteerism and advance the idea of service as a solution to systemic societal problems.

Although a record number of Millennials are volunteering (9.8 million gave back over 1 billion hours in 2008) a recent report by sector leaders found that service organizations treat volunteers as their most under-utilized asset. Volunteers, especially young volunteers, need to be leveraged to their maximum extent; social media presents this opportunity.

myImpact.org will work with existing service organizations to enhance and extend the volunteer experience online, with a platform that will ask users to answer the question "what is your impact?"- through multimedia and short metrics, submitted from a computer or a cell phone. myImpact.org believes that the stories of individual service, when presented in a compelling way, can inspire even more young Americans to answer the call to serve and contribute to an increase in Millennial civic engagement.

Chris Golden, an American University senior and Nick Troiano, a Georgetown University junior, are pursuing this issue after being inspired themselves to become involved in service, based on the 2008 ServiceNation Summit, an event to which they were chosen to attend as national young leaders. They are committed to this cause because they believe that engaging young people in their communities will ultimately lead to the development of citizen-driven solutions to large national challenges.

myImpact.org will work closely to complement the existing infrastructure of the non-profit and volunteer sectors and has already formed close partnerships with many leading organizations. By integrating with existing technologies and social networks, myImpact.org will achieve its mission in a measured and strategic way.