DearMEP vs SocialToaster

DearMEP is free, open-source software that helps citizens contact elected representatives in the European Parliament. Users can call once or schedule daily or weekly calls, and can also contact politicians by email or social media. The system chooses a representative from the user's country whom it estimates may be persuadable, using voting behavior and feedback. NGOs and activists can adapt the tool for campaigns and other assemblies, or embed a customizable widget on a campaign website. The widget detects the browser language and also lets visitors choose a language; campaign URLs must be added to the instance's allowed origins. DearMEP offers API documentation for advanced integrations and custom client implementations, and is available as web software, an API, or self-hosted software. A new instance requires an account with 46elks, its calling provider. The project says it minimizes personal-data processing and follows privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default, with GDPR compliance. Its privacy design document says IP addresses are used for geolocation and abuse prevention but are not persisted by the application itself; the document notes that some described functionality may not be implemented.

SocialToaster helps organizations deliver content to employees, supporters, customers, alumni, and other advocates for sharing through their personal social networks. SocialToaster Basic distributes content through email, SMS, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, and automatically curates organizational content for advocates to share. Its analytics track clicks, shares, engagement, and user activity. The social-selling program gives sales teams an approved content library and real-time performance reporting. Enterprise adds gamification, leaderboards, incentives, managed sweepstakes and contests, and custom or third-party integrations. Listed integrations include Salesforce, Magento, WooCommerce, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. The help center documents API version 1.0 endpoints, with retrieved data refreshing every four hours. SocialToaster says internet-transmitted data is encrypted using industry-standard best practices and that it conforms to the SOC 2 security standard. The 30-day trial allows up to 500 notifications per month; there is no free plan. Starter costs $30/month and includes 100 contacts, 5 users, 1 admin, and online support. SocialToaster was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Towson, Maryland.