Seems to me that there is plenty of online cooperation going on, between sites like Wikipedia, communities like HN, Reddit, forums, etc, open source projects, and all that jazz.
Perhaps I didn't understand the problem very well..
For example, online political fundraising has become increasingly more effective in past decade. By separating the development of the motivation to action from the mechanics of the action itself -- the political rallying from the card swiping -- effective politicians play to the strengths of both the online and offline mediums.
>Put up names and photos [...] of the first people who helped [...]