Crowdring is a mobile petition platform that allows organizations to engage citizens in campaigns via free missed calls and SMS blasts. It provides a streamlined user flow for campaigners and participants, and functionality like SMS blasts, user tracking, and integration with voice and messaging services. The platform aims to catalyze mobile organizing globally, especially in emerging economies, by addressing barriers to sustained engagement and scalability that exist with current mobile organizing tools. It has built a prototype and is working with partners to test and build out its mobile tools.

1. CROWDRING:
MOBILE PETITION PLATFORM
August 2012

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
/THE RULES
CROWDRING IN ACTION
THE VISION

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
/THE RULES
CROWDRING IN ACTION
THE VISION

4. /The Rules is a new movement that uses citizen power to address the root causes of
poverty and inequality

5. Our campaigns will be guided by three operating principles
DEMYSTIFY
CLEAR NARRATIVES explain why unfair rules and
systems perpetuate inequality and poverty
INCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGIES allow citizens
MOBILISE everywhere, especially those in emerging economies,
to exercise agency and aggregate power
MAKE
NEW RULES become viable alternatives to correct
systemic injustice, locally and globally

6. We will mobilize people through our innovative platform that pioneers tools in online and
mobile organizing
GLOBAL Rapid response campaigning
CAMPAIGN Micro-donation functionality
ENGINE Multi-language capability
OPTIMISED
SMS blast tool
FOR
Mobile web capability
MOBILE
Missed call campaigns

7. Our strategic focus is on mobile campaigning, the most appropriate tactic to engage
citizens in emerging economies
KEY COUNTRIES POPULATION INTERNET MOBILE UNDER 30
INDIA 1.1 B
10%
74%
60%
INDONESIA 245 M
23%
72%
54%
BRAZIL 203 M
40%
100%
50%
NIGERIA 158 M
28%
59%
70%
MEXICO 113 M
37%
80%
66%
SOUTH AFRICA 49 M
12%
100%
61%
KENYA 41 M
20%
60%
71%
Figures taken from UNCTAD (2011), KPCB (2011), and UN-DESA (2010)

8. Organizations have begun to experiment with mobile movement building…
35,000,000 MISSED CALLS
In April 2011, India Against
Corruption launched a missed call
campaign to mobilize millions
against rampant corruption in
India’s government
~200,000 ATTEND RALLIES

9. …but existing tools impose significant barriers to sustained engagement and scalability
DISASTER SCENARIOS
Mobile solutions are built largely CLUNKY CODE
for mapping in emergency Local messaging tools are
scenarios, not for managing built on outdated frameworks
sustained campaigns and aren’t well documented
CALLE
RID CALL
BOTTLENECK
COST
Gateways that require on-
Existing tools rely upon phone
the-ground support have a
calls and SMS, which can be
high propensity for failure at
cost prohibitive
the hardware level and
cannot scale easily; APIs are
a viable replacement

10. TABLE OF CONTENTS
/THE RULES
CROWDRING IN ACTION
THE VISION

11. Our inclusive technology tool Crowdring will allow organizations around the world to
engage people in campaigns via free missed calls and SMS blasts

12. Crowdring will provide a streamlined user flow for both campaigners and participants
Campaigner logs Citizens learn Their mobile They immediately
They place a
into Crowdring and of missed call number is stored in receive an auto-fire
missed call to the
creates a petition, campaigns our database, for SMS, free of
advertised number,
which is connected through SMS, TV, analytics and future charge*, becoming a
to “sign” the
to a local radio, and web- SMS campaign member of the
petition
phone number
based outreach
engagement
organization
*Where markets allow

13. Crowdring will provide the following mobile campaigning functionality
SMS blast message Mobile list cutting and User activity tracking
interface
targeting
Interactive Voice Response Free alternative messaging
integration
service integration

14. Many of the components necessary to build it already exist, making it easy to develop
CODE CMS WEBSITE
APIs for services We will build a a graphical Crowdring requires
exist. We will integrate Content Management minimal front facing
them & scale to a 20 System for users to manage infrastructure. Can be 1
million global user & launch campaigns
page of basic HTML5
capacity.

15. We have built a basic prototype with the following network schematic in mind
Free CRM
Public
Gateway
Manages
GUI
Website
Messages
Campaign
Login
Asterisk Cloudflare Twilio
Nexmo
Person GSM tower DID sends Processes Protects
Sends Buys Bulk
places a
transmits
local call to
Missed
Our App
Messages
Messages
call
call
internet
NEXMO
x20million
Calls
Apache
Regional Server
Amazon
Hosts
EC2
Hosts
Samasource
Mongo
Translates
Database
Voice Messages
Stores
OFFLINE
ONLINE
ONLINE

16. TABLE OF CONTENTS
/THE RULES
CROWDRING IN ACTION
THE VISION

17. /The Rules seeks to catalyze mobile organizing in the way that Avaaz and other
campaigning organizations evolved online organizing in the last decade

18. We are actively working with leading tech partners, mobile innovation experts, and
organizations on the ground to help us test and build our mobile tools

19. Together we can move billions of people to take action, and help aggregate our
collective power to change the rules that perpetuate poverty and inequality