GAW I think you decribed it best.
I was always told Hatzalah, Tomche Shabbos and Misaskim were more Tzdekahs not Askans
An Askan as I was told is
On the other side, you have those who work within the “orginized community”, and interface between the community and its leaders. These are the “Gaboim”, “convincers” and “Hockers”, who push the leaders of the community to do things they would not have done otherwise. They create a layer of separation between the leaders and the people, and those are the problem.