Civic Platform · Social Impact · India · 2010–2012
Social Outreach Accreditation Program
A credits-based civic accreditation platform connecting NGOs, corporate and educational institution partners, and volunteers — built for Gul Panag's Gul 4 Change initiative and the Col. Shamsher Singh Foundation. 100 NGOs. 50 colleges. A portable record of civic contribution.
NGOs
Programme providers · 100 organisations
Register project ideas, publish volunteering opportunities, confirm volunteers, track progress, assign SOAP credits, upload photos and documentation.
Partners
Corporates & colleges · 50 institutions
View volunteer credit profiles, track staff and student civic engagement, fund NGO projects, suggest project collaborations, check credit rankings.
Volunteers
Individuals · Credits-based civic engagement
Browse and apply to NGO projects, complete volunteering, earn SOAP credits, build a portable record of civic contribution verifiable by employers and institutions.
SOAP — Social Outreach Accreditation Program — was a civic infrastructure platform with a specific and ambitious purpose: to create a portable, verifiable record of civic contribution for individuals in India. SOAP credits were not badges or participation certificates. They formed a structured, platform-managed civic record that corporates and educational institutions could independently verify.
The platform was built for Gul Panag's Gul 4 Change initiative and the Col. Shamsher Singh Foundation — connecting three constituencies that rarely operated in a single structured system: NGOs running civic programmes, corporate and institutional partners willing to support and recognise civic work, and individual volunteers seeking to contribute and have that contribution formally acknowledged.
SOAP turned civic contribution into a structured, portable credential — a credits system that NGOs assigned, volunteers earned, and employers and institutions could independently verify. Built before the term "social impact platform" existed as a category.
SOAP was built around three distinct user types — each with their own registration process, their own dashboard, and their own set of tools. The platform had to serve radically different needs from the same infrastructure without one stakeholder's experience compromising another's.
NGOs
Programme Providers
Edit account details and upload logo
Register project ideas
Add and publish projects
View volunteer database
Confirm volunteers for projects
Track volunteer progress
Upload project photos
Assign SOAP credits to volunteers
Receive funding via "Fund a Project"
Partners
Corporates & Institutions
Edit account and upload logo
View in-house volunteer list
Add and track in-house volunteers
Check credit of job applicants
Fund NGO projects
View funded project list
Suggest projects to specific NGOs
View credit rankings — top corporates and institutions
View positions by credits earned and average
Volunteers
Individual Contributors
Register and manage profile
Browse available NGO programmes
Apply for projects
Receive selection updates
Upload work progress photos and documents
View SOAP credits earned
Build a portable civic contribution record
The credit was the structural heart of SOAP. Every project published by an NGO carried a credit value — calculated by the platform based on task level and hours contributed. Volunteers earned credits on completion and NGO verification. Those credits accumulated into a profile that partners — corporates and colleges — could independently check.
SOAP Credit Calculation
Credits = Task Level × Hours Contributed
Task Level was set by the NGO when registering each project — indicating the complexity and skill requirement of the volunteering work. Hours were assigned by the NGO on completion and verified before credits were issued. The resulting credit total was the volunteer's portable civic record — visible to any SOAP-registered partner organisation.
Built in 2010–2012 — years before “social impact platforms” and “civic tech” became recognised categories in India’s startup and NGO ecosystem. Volunteering was informal, unverifiable, and invisible to employers and institutions. SOAP proposed — and built — the infrastructure to change that.
100 NGOs, 50 colleges and corporates, and a credits system that could travel from a volunteering record to a job application. Built in 2010–2012, years before "social impact" and "civic tech" became recognisable categories in India's startup and NGO ecosystem.
Gul Panag brought the vision and the network. Webonautics built the infrastructure. SOAP was civic technology before civic technology had a name in India.