Bring us a problem or an idea
Start a private conversation with a nonprofit volunteer community that can help validate the need, find users or partners, scope feasible work, and organize an open-source team when a project is a fit.
Civic Tech DC is rooted in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia community, but a project can serve people elsewhere when it has a clear public benefit and the right partners. Nonprofits, legal clinics, journalists, academics, researchers, community groups, community members, public-interest staff, and civic technologists can all bring a need.
Selected projects receive no-cost, volunteer-led discovery, technical consultation, data help, product scoping, design, and open-source development support. This is a collaborative project model, not guaranteed on-demand consulting or a promise that every proposal will ship.
Start a private project conversation
Two ways to start
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We have a problem
Bring a frustrating workflow, inaccessible service, scattered dataset, unanswered public-interest question, or other need. You do not need to know the technical solution.
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I have an idea or an early build
Bring a concept, prototype, dataset, analysis, or existing open-source project. We can help test the need, find real users or a partner, and decide what a useful next step looks like.
What support may include
Depending on the project and available volunteers, Civic Tech DC may help with:
- interviewing users and testing assumptions;
- finding a validating organization, community member, or subject-matter expert;
- product strategy, technical consultation, and a manageable first scope;
- data management, analysis, visualization, or reproducible data workflows;
- user experience, software design, and open-source development;
- volunteer recruitment, project coordination, documentation, and handoff planning.
We build with problem owners and users, not for an absent client. Useful projects need people with lived or professional knowledge to make decisions, review work, and help sustain what comes next.
What makes a project a fit
You do not need every answer before the first email. These are the conditions we work toward before forming a project team.
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A real user or path to users
The team needs people who experience the problem, or a credible way to reach them. Civic Tech DC may help find those people, but the work cannot rest on a hunch alone.
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A committed problem owner
Someone must stay involved, share context, answer questions, make or facilitate decisions, and help validate the work throughout the project.
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Public benefit
We should be able to say who the work may help, what would become easier or more accessible, and how we would learn whether it is useful.
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An open-source approach
Software and reusable technical work should be available for others to inspect, learn from, and improve. We discuss privacy, data, licensing, and security constraints before building.
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Feasible scope
A first milestone must be small enough for a volunteer team to deliver and test. Urgent work, guaranteed deadlines, and full-service IT operations are usually not a fit.
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Leadership and volunteer capacity
A project starts only when the needed leadership and volunteers are available. A strong need may still need to wait, change scope, or find a different home.
What we need from a project partner
A problem owner, organization, or validating partner should be prepared to:
- explain the current workflow and connect the team with people who use it;
- attend regular check-ins and respond to questions between meetings;
- review prototypes, data definitions, and product decisions;
- help resolve privacy, security, policy, and subject-matter questions;
- identify who can own, maintain, or responsibly retire the work after launch;
- allow reusable technical work to be developed in the open unless a specific constraint requires a different approach.
What happens after the first email
From a need to a possible project
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Start privately
Email the Civic Tech DC team with the problem or idea, who it may help, and what you know so far. A short, unpolished note is enough.
Email the team -
Explore the need and fit
We discuss the current workflow, intended users, evidence, public benefit, constraints, and existing tools. We may suggest more discovery, a smaller scope, another resource, or no project.
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Validate and scope it
Together, we look for real users and subject-matter expertise, define partner responsibilities, and identify a useful first milestone that a volunteer team could test.
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Form a team if capacity allows
If the project is ready, a lead is available, and volunteers have the needed skills, we introduce it at a Project Night and work in open, testable increments. Acceptance does not guarantee a particular timeline or finished product.
Examples of the work
- DC Reentry Housing Project is working with a coalition to define a shared data platform for reentry housing coordination.
- DARIA grew from an abortion fund’s shared-spreadsheet workflow into open-source case-management software used by multiple funds.
- Clean Slate paired legal-clinic expertise and human review with a limited eligibility-triage tool.
These cases differ in audience, maturity, and outcome. They show why user access, partner participation, privacy, maintenance, and honest status matter as much as code.
Frequently asked questions
Is Civic Tech DC’s project support free?
Selected projects receive no-cost, volunteer-led support. There is no consulting fee, but partners contribute time, expertise, user access, decisions, and continuity. Some projects may have outside costs for hosting, data, services, accessibility work, security review, or long-term maintenance.
Do I need to know what technology to build?
No. A well-understood problem is often a better starting point than a predetermined solution. We may find that research, a process change, an existing tool, or a small data intervention is more useful than new software.
Do I need a nonprofit or confirmed users before I contact you?
No. Individuals and early project teams can start the conversation. Civic Tech DC may help look for a validating partner or users, but a project will not move into development until there is a credible way to test the need with people close to it.
Does the project have to be in Washington, DC?
No. We are rooted in the DMV and value local relationships, but we may support work with broader public benefit when the users, partner participation, scope, and volunteer team make sense.
What if my proposal is not selected?
Not every useful idea fits the current mission, timing, or volunteer capacity. We will be candid about what is missing when we can. We may suggest more discovery, a smaller first step, an existing resource, another organization, or a later conversation.
How long does a project take?
There is no standard timeline. Volunteer teams work around other responsibilities, and discovery can change the scope. If you need guaranteed delivery, emergency support, regulatory accountability, or ongoing managed services, Civic Tech DC is unlikely to be the right provider.
Will the work be open source?
Reusable software and technical work are expected to be open source. Sensitive personal data is not published, and a public repository does not remove the need for privacy, security, legal, and ethical safeguards. We discuss those constraints before development.
Just want to help?
Looking to join an existing project rather than start one? Explore current projects, come to a Project Night, or find the community on Slack.
Content owner: Civic Tech DC organizing team. Last reviewed: July 24, 2026.