Currently, the process of converting paper signup sheets that are collected during our summer outreach work into memberships on forums.e-democracy.org is labor intensive. The process involves the following steps:

1. Enter information from paper signup sheet into a spreadsheet
2. Send an email to the captured addresses to test the valitity of the provided email address and offer the user a chance to opt-out of joining a group
3. Create a CSV based on all of the addresses that have not opt-ed out or bounced and upload them the group they have signuped for
4. Track various steps in the process, and statistics regarding # of paper signups, # of bounces, # of opt-outs, # of successful signups, signup event, and signup volunteer.

Some of these steps can be automated - namely steps 2 through 4.

Drupal Signup Tool

To automate steps 2 through 4, we are planning to develop a web tool based on Drupal. This tool will allow the user to enter information about potential group members into a database that can be edited when needed. Once all the information for a gorup of potential members has been entered, the tool will send the verification/opt-out email and keep track of bounces and opt outs. After a set period of time, a CSV will be generated based on successful email addresses and made available for download. The tool will also keep track of the statistics mentioned in #4.

While any number of platforms could be used for this idea, we have choosen Drupal not only because it is a good match for our needs, but also as a chance for our organization to become more famaliar with the tool in preperation for the Electronic Block Clubs idea.