Tuesday this week, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes launched a beta of’Jumo.com, a new social network that aims to connect people with the issues and organizations that interest them.

Facilitating action for a cause, rather than just showing an affinity for the cause or ‘liking’ it, is what’s different in Jumo. It matches users with relevant organizations, then engages them through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or other applications to encourage contributions of time, skills or money.’ ‘(Hughes spoke with Knight Foundation about the project here.)

Hughes told the L.A. Times:

‘I really want to move away from the old model in which you have to rely on people giving $10 after a humanitarian crisis to a newer model where people give money but also their time and their skills, whatever they have, to the causes that are personally meaningful to them well before the crisis moment presents itself.’

He told The Washington Post that Jumo will measure success in “users who are more meaningfully involved in the world around them.” The New York Times reported that individual charities, projects like building a school in rural Africa and broad issues like gay rights will all have dedicated pages on Jumo.’And, InformationWeek reported the servers were overloaded on the first day.

Jumo received $750,000 earlier this year as one of five initial grants from the Knight Technology for Engagement Initiative spearheaded by Knight Vice President for Strategic Initiative Paula Ellis.

Jumo is a major partner for the initiative but Knight is also looking to expand with high-quality ideas that use technology to cultivate community engagement. Visit www.techforengagement.org to see if your ideas might fit in to the plan.