mySociety, Ltd. make websites that empower citizens worldwide.
mySociety is a not-for-profit social enterprise, based in the UK and working internationally.
They build online technologies that give people the power to get things changed, and they share these technologies so that they can be used anywhere.
They believe that strong democratic accountability and a thriving civil society are vital to their common welfare, and that these only survive when people engage with government and communities.
Theywork with online technologies because the internet can lower the barriers to taking the first civic or democratic steps in a citizen’s life, and it can do so at scale.
In three connected areas of civic life:
Their work is partially supported by providing services to local government and other organisations that can benefit from their experience in civic technologies.
mySociety began life when a small group of coders got together to discuss a shared interest. They wanted to explore the potential of the internet to give everyone easier access to the political process.
That was way back in 1996. Since then, they have been rather busy, growing into a fully-fledged international organisation along the way.
These days, they put out annual reports so you can see what they have been up to: here’s the Year In Review for 2014, for 2015 and 2016.
mySociety’s work is funded by a variety of means: grants from charitable foundations, donations from private individuals, and commercial income from its trading subsidiary.