From dozens to millions: How petitions win at every level

When it comes to creating change, there’s no magic number of signatures that guarantees a win. Some petitions reach their goal with 30-odd signatures, others with over 300,000 (or even millions!), and both are valid victories. 

Success looks different for every campaign. Maybe it’s changing a national law, or getting a speed hump in your neighborhood, or simply raising awareness about an overlooked issue.

On Change.org, success might mean:

• Getting some or all of your demands met
• Earning a public response from a decision maker
• Sparking media coverage
• Shifting public opinion
• Building momentum for a broader movement

The impact of your petition doesn’t come solely from numbers, it comes from the actions those numbers inspire. Explore real petitions that drove change with signature amounts ranging from a few dozen to millions—proving every signature matters.

→ Learn more on this topic with our guide: Do online petitions work and how many signatures do you need?

Signatures equal people

It’s easy to focus on numbers alone when gathering signatures for a petition. But don’t forget that each Change.org signature represents a real person in a community supporting the same cause as you.

While you may be looking for those commas behind the numbers of your signers, be sure to celebrate every signature. So even if your petition isn’t bringing in tens of thousands of signatures, you are still reaching a meaningful audience at any size.

Finally, action is more important than signatures. The Change.org community is ready to mobilize. You can use your audience to rally and continue making noise much more effectively than traditional paper petitions. Keep up the enthusiasm around your cause by providing updates and calls to action to your audience, no matter how big or small. 

How many signatures do you really need? Learn from these petitions.

These examples from the Change.org community all succeeded with signature counts ranging from fewer than 100 to well over 100,000. See how different campaigns win at different levels.

Under 100 signatures

Petition: Prevent the Installation of a Billboard near Delaware Avenue and Elm Street

In December 2023, neighbors in Camden, New Jersey, were outraged after learning that an LED billboard was planned for their area. Highlighting research about light pollution from the International Dark-Sky Association, they started a Change.org petition to stop it. 

With only a little over 50 signatures, the idea of an LED billboard was put to rest. 

Petition: Allow Open Applications for Enid Orchestra Director

This petition reached its goal in just a few days, showing that hundreds of signatures are not always needed. 

Following the announced departure of the director of the Enid Public Schools Orchestra, in Enid, Oklahoma, a parent started a petition. Their concern? The job posting hadn’t been made public, and there was a candidate already lined up for it. 

Citing a study by the National Association for Music Education, the petition starter pushed for an open recruitment process, and achieved exactly that with the support of 96 signatures.

100-500 signatures

Petition: Stop Tilcon’s Quarry Expansion 

With 412 signatures, these petition starters showed the planning and zoning commission in Plainville, Connecticut collective opposition to the expansion of a quarry in their neighborhood. The organizer pointed out the environmental disaster that this would be, as well as the health hazards for neighbors. 

The petition called on the planning and zoning commission not to approve the quarry, which eventually pushed the company involved to withdraw its application. 

Petition: Let Us Walk at Graduation — Indiana University Indianapolis

Walking with your peers at graduation is a cherished memory for most college graduates. When a group of students at Indiana University in Indianapolis found out they wouldn’t be able to take part due to an RSVP mistake, they were rightly upset.

With 10 days to spare before the event, the impacted students started a petition asking to be allowed to walk with their classmates. Even though they were not granted guest tickets, the school allowed the students to walk at graduation, with the support of 123 signatures.

500-1000 signatures

Petition: Reopen Eric’s Alternate Trail or Establish a New Connection to Rosecrest bench

In Herriman City, Utah, a concerned citizen started a petition after the city closed a trail, earning over 800 signatures. The petition starter didn’t achieve their original request but it was still a victory, as the city council announced that new trails would be opening.

Petition: Phoenix Union High School District Resolution to Relocate Bees Instead of Exterminating

In April 2025, a group of students from Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix, Arizona, got together to save bees that found a home under the awning of the auditorium.  

They used a petition to appeal to the Phoenix Union High School District to relocate these bees instead of going through with the original plan to exterminate them. Thanks to their persistence and the 801 signatures backing their petition, the school board approved a humane removal of the bees.

1000-5000 signatures

Petition: Stop Destruction of a Meadow for Parking in Joe Creason Park

Proposed plans to extend the Louisville Tennis Center in Kentucky were met with excitement by the petition starter until the plans for parking were announced. Out of the 330 new parking spaces, 128 were projected to be placed over a meadow, requiring the removal of trees and taking away this space for citizens. 

The petition starter proposed alternatives for the parking spaces and pushed to protect the meadow from the extension. With over 1,500 signatures, the Mayor decided not to move forward with the plan for those parking spaces “due to extraordinary community opposition.”

Petition: Overturn Feral Cat Feeding Law in Floral Park Village

An animal lover in the community of Floral Park, New York, started a petition to protect feral cats. They asked to overturn a law prohibiting feeding these cats, pointing to alternative programs for dealing with the problem. With the backing of over 1,690 signatures, the government amended the law, and the group of cat lovers established plans to take care of the population in the area going forward. 

5000-10,000 signatures

Petition: Conserve the Point Topsail Beach

In November 2022, citizens of the town of Topsail Beach, North Carolina, got together to save a plot of land from being developed. 

Gathering over 8,100 signatures, the petition starters not only managed to halt the project, but launched a public-private partnership to purchase the land, and the area is now preserved.

Petition: Oppose the Rezoning of Pullman, WA Property for Biodiesel Plant

In Pullman, Washington, citizens started a petition fighting plans for an industrial biodiesel plant development in their area. The petition pointed out the concerns of such facilities near residential areas, including concerns related to air quality, noise, and traffic.

With the help of over 7,400 signatures and extensive media coverage, the project was withdrawn.

Over 10,000 signatures

Petition: Pay Increase for Therapists Working with Preschool Children with Disabilities

A group of parents in Nassau & Suffolk Counties in Long Island, New York started a petition asking for fair pay for child therapists whose rates were stagnant for 25 years. Following the support of over 12,000 signatures, the counties implemented pay increases. 

Petition: Attendance notification policy

Attendance notification policies vary from school to school. In Orange County, Florida, a concerned parent started a petition asking schools to notify parents in the morning of the absence, not at the end of the day. 

With the support of over 12,000 signatures and media coverage, the Orange County School Board announced the implementation of first period absence notifications. 

Over 50,000 signatures

Petition: Demand MTA build safety barriers 

Following the tragic death of a woman pushed into the subway tracks, a concerned citizen started a petition asking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York to build safety barriers. 

Even though the MTA initially claimed to lack financial resources to put these in place, the petition starter did not give up. With over 64,190 signatures, the petition pushed MTA to agree to build the barriers. 

Petition: Stop the senseless killing of ducks

Another animal lover took to Change.org to stop the HOA Board at Lakeridge in South Florida from killing a population of ducks and geese in the area. 

Following a thorough campaign, the petition starter was able to ensure the safety of the animals and to transport them to the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. The petition got the support of over 76,000 signatures.

Over 100,000 signatures

Petition: Get Amazon to Offer Plastic-Free Packaging Options

Sometimes petitions bring about change in a matter of days, others require persistence that span over years. This petition starter did not give up on her fight to get Amazon to offer plastic-free packaging options. 

Four years later, after strong campaigning efforts, the ambitious goal was achieved, backed by over 784,000 signatures.

Petition: Offer commutation as time served, or grant clemency to Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos

In a case that made international news and got the attention of celebrities, this petition asked for Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos’s sentence to be reduced or to grant him clemency. 

He was the driver in a trucking accident that killed four people. The petition emphasized that he had no criminal record or prior driving violations and the trucking company should be investigated for mechanical failure. Following the support of over 5 million signatures, the sentence was reduced from 110 years to 10. 

Start gaining signatures with Change.org

We tend to chase big numbers because they feel like proof—of reach, of support, of success. But as these stories show, the real proof lies in the outcome, not the count. A single well-aimed petition, backed by even a modest number of people, can lead to decisions being reversed, policies rewritten, and communities mobilized.

So instead of asking, “How many signatures do I need?”, try asking, “What do I want to change?” and “Who needs to hear this?” Then begin. The act of starting, of naming the issue and inviting others to care, is often what unlocks momentum.

Every successful petition began the same way: with one person, one idea, and one decision to act. Let yours be next. Start your petition today.