How promoted petitions work on Change.org

Change.org is free for everyone, whether you are starting or signing a petition. Your voice is powerful regardless of whether you or anyone else contributes money. Your signature counts regardless of whether you or anyone else contributes money.

Promotion is an optional tool that petition starters and supporters can use to help a petition reach more people. It is one of several ways to grow a campaign, alongside social sharing, petition updates, and direct outreach to decision makers. This page explains how it works, where the money goes, and what it does and does not affect.

What "chip in" means

When you see a prompt to "chip in" on Change.org, you are being offered the option to pay to promote a specific petition as an advertisement to a wider audience. This is a one-time, optional contribution.

When you chip in:

• The petition is shown to more people who are already active on Change.org and inclined to support causes like it

• Your contribution goes to Change.org to fund that distribution — not to the petition starter and not to the individual or organization tied to the cause

• Before you confirm, the payment form shows exactly how your contribution will be used and how many times it will be shown as a result

Promotion guarantees more views. It does not guarantee more signatures — whether someone signs is always their own choice.

What promoted petitions are

Promoted petitions work like sponsored advertisements. Once promoted, a petition is shown to people across the Change.org platform, including on the homepage, throughout the website, and in Change.org emails sent to millions of people. 

The audience for promoted petitions is not random. Change.org surfaces promoted petitions to people who are already active on the platform and most likely to support the cause — for example, people who have previously signed a petition on a related topic. The targeting is intentional and specific to the petition's subject matter.

Geographic reach depends on how the petition is scoped. Petitions set to a local or national scope will only be shown to people within the country the petition was created in. Petitions set to a global scope have the potential to be displayed in other countries as well. In all cases, the audience is still people active on the platform who are most likely to support the cause.

Anyone can promote a petition, not just the person who started it. If you signed a petition you believe in, you can chip in to help it reach more people. On average, most of the purchased impressions are delivered within the first 30 days. 

Promotion is optional at every step. If you do not want to contribute money after signing, you can always choose to skip that option. For example, below is a prompt to promote a petition after it’s been signed. You can choose to click the button to chip in the amount of your choice, or choose to share the petition link with your social networks, another optional step which you can also skip.

What promotion does and does not affect

Promotion affects one thing: how many people see the petition through paid placement on Change.org. It does not affect anything else.

Specifically, promotion has no effect on:

• What supporter data a petition starter can access. All starters have the same access to supporter data regardless of whether promotion is used.

• A petition's standing or organic ranking on the platform. Change.org does not algorithmically favor promoted petitions in onsite search results. Promotion affects paid placement only.

• Where the money goes. Contributions from promotion go to Change.org to support the Change.org platform and mission. None of it goes to the petition starter.

If you started a petition and do not want others to promote it, you can contact Change.org support to request that promotion be disabled on your specific petition.

How Change.org makes money

Change.org is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), 100% owned by the Change.org Foundation, a nonprofit public charity. The platform is free to use. There is no fee to start a petition, sign one, or access your supporter data.

Change.org's revenue comes from two sources:

• Promoted petitions: contributions from users who choose to promote a petition they care about

• Memberships: recurring monthly contributions from users who want to support the platform

Change.org does not sell user data. It does not run third-party advertising. Advertisers do not pay to reach Change.org's users. 

Memberships

A Change.org membership is a separate, recurring monthly contribution to support the platform. It is not tied to any specific petition.

Membership is offered after you promote a petition, but it is a distinct opt-in. If you want to make a one-time contribution and not a recurring membership, review your selection before confirming and decline the membership offer.

Membership contributions go toward:

• Platform technology and infrastructure

• Strategic guidance provided by the Change.org team

• Media support and coverage for campaigns

• Connecting petition starters to business and government leaders

Important: Contributions to Change.org (both promotions and memberships) are not tax-deductible in most countries. They are not classified as charitable donations. Exception: in Argentina and South Africa, contributions go to the Change.org Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) US charity.

You can change your membership contribution amount or cancel at any time. If you see a recurring charge you did not intend, you can cancel your membership through your account settings at change.org/account_settings/contributions.

Common misconceptions

Some places online can describe Change.org's promotion model inaccurately. Here is what is actually true: