Roots & Shoots joins up with good2gether

Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, gained a powerful ally with the unveiling of good2gether, a latest-generation Web 2.0 platform that is part search engine, part social network. Through this partnership, Roots & Shoots will be able to promote its international youth service-learning network to millions of unique visitors on major Web sites, like Boston.com—the Web site for The Boston Globe.

Good2gether’s key invention is the connect2cause™ widget—a small bit of code that gets dropped into a media partner Web site, scanning and indexing articles and delivering deep links based on relevance. For example, a connect2cause™ widget next to an article on education would display a link to Roots & Shoots right alongside the article, with the organization’s local events, volunteer opportunities and membership information.

“Roots & Shoots is a powerful, youth-driven, global network of more than 100,000 young people in nearly 100 countries, all working on local service projects to benefit people, animals and the environment. We want to spread the word to empower more youth to make a difference. good2gether is a wonderful tool to help us do just that,” said Sally Sharp Lehman, New England regional director of Roots & Shoots. “Because good2gether is working with New England Web sites like Boston.com, we hope to leverage technology and the Internet to connect even more young people with Roots & Shoots projects that are both local and global in scope.”

Roots & Shoots joins nonprofits including the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, Best Buddies, Earth Share, National Audubon Society, and over 100 others in anticipation of good2gether’s first public launch in Boston this spring.

With major newspapers in six of the top 10 media markets already signed on to the good2gether network, partnerships are expected to extend to at least 10 of the top 20 media markets by the end of 2008. Though good2gether launches with a focus on these major media partners, good2gether can be made available anywhere on the Internet—at the Web sites of colleges and universities, on corporate intranets, at national or regional magazines, or at social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.

“Roots & Shoots is an outstanding, committed nonprofit and we are honored to have them join good2gether,” said Gregory McHale, CEO and Founder of good2gether. “Both our organizations share a mission to raise awareness of local nonprofits and increase involvement in the community’s philanthropic efforts.”

About good2gether:

good2gether is a new search and social media Web service that connects people to causes, through a broad network of Web sites, including major media outlets, corporate intranets, college/university Web sites, social networks, and more. Built on a scalable, Web 2.0 platform, good2gether enables nonprofits to enter volunteering opportunities, events, in-kind donation needs, etc., once—then distributes this info across the entire network, to everyone's benefit: nonprofits leverage free traffic, media partners get local content and fresh ad revenue, sponsors deliver their social responsibility messaging in a targeted, scalable fashion—and people get an easy way to discover, share, and engage with causes. Learn more at www.good2gether.com.