When you want to change the world, there is strength in numbers.

Joining together with like-minded friends who share a passion for social justice can help you learn more about an issue. Together you can donate your time, money or activism energy while staying motivated for the long haul.

If you have ever considered pulling together a group of friends, neighbours or co-workers to form a social-justice group, here are some tips to get you started.

1. Find a Common Passion
Invite your friends for a visit and share your areas of concern. Look for common ground and the common issues. Maybe it is HIV and AIDS in Africa or the homeless in your hometown.

You will probably be most effective if you narrow your focus to just a few issues that you all agree upon.

2. Give Strategically
Donating money is not the only way to respond to an issue, but it is common.

"Giving circles" are an up-and-coming approach to group philanthropy. Members each contribute an agreed-upon amount, sock it away in a high-interest-yielding account and then decide how, where and when to donate the funds.

If you form a giving circle, consider donating the money to a few specific issues so you get more change-the-world bang for your buck.

3. Call In the Experts
Don't feel timid to ask an organization to send someone to speak to your group, no matter how small. Consider having a "social-justice awareness night," even at home, and invite your neighbours.

Bringing in an outside speaker can help educate and mobilize your group, and teach you how to better support the issues you are involved in. World Vision, for example, often sends out speakers to address groups on social-justice issues.

4. Bring the Issue Home
Consider going the extra mile and getting hands-on with your issue.

If the issue you are involved in is global in nature, brainstorm ways your social-justice group could act locally.

Local action can include volunteering together at a related one-time event or joining forces as a group to volunteer regularly at a soup kitchen, drop-in centre or food bank.

5. Name It and Go Live
A creative name can help clarify why your group exists and also add a bit of fun to your activism. A name also helps you appear professional and official even as you are taking your first steps as a social-justice group.

Consider setting up a web-based group (check out Yahoo! Groups or sites like Facebook) so members can share information and updates regularly.

Click here to visit World Vision's Justice Activism Central and explore important global issues.