Petitions that changed the world: 12 Change.org victories, by the numbers

Since it launched, Change.org has helped everyday people turn a single idea into real, documented change. 587,492,849 advocates have taken action on the platform, connecting across geographic and cultural borders to support causes they care about. That collective action has produced 116,180 victories in 196 countries — nearly one every hour.

Below are 12 of those victories, organized by category. These stats — including how many people signed, how long the campaign took from start to win, and what the outcome was — represent a lot more than numbers on a page. 

These are real grassroots movements started by people experiencing or observing injustice, inequity, and deterioration in their communities. Under the weight of these problems, they decided to do something about it, and motivated others to join them. Together, they actively participated in democracy and influenced significant policies, decisions, and actions of those with the power to enact change.

Criminal Justice

Justice for George Floyd

Before: In May 2020, a Minneapolis police officer knelt on George Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd, handcuffed and restrained, said he could not breathe. Bystanders begged the officer to stop. No charges had been filed following Floyd’s death.

What the petition starter did: Kellen S., a 15-year-old from Portland, Oregon, started the petition demanding that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and DA Mike Freeman fire and charge the officers involved, then kept building pressure well past the initial ask as the case developed. After Derek Chauvin's arrest, she asked signers to send her 30-second videos answering a single question: "What justice for George Floyd would mean to you," compiled the responses, and turned them into a video that she pushed across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

She kept escalating pressure as the petition grew, using each new signature milestone to renew the call to action. The campaign's scale also generated its own momentum outside the platform — it was covered by Newsweek, Seventeen Magazine, Rolling Stone, and People Magazine, and amplified by celebrities including Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. Supporter chip-in contributions funded paid promotion of the petition to more than a million people a day on Change.org, emails to over 20 million people, social ads reaching 10 million or more daily, and more than 100 billboards across New York City and Minneapolis.

After: Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter. Minnesota's governor then handed the prosecution to Attorney General Keith Ellison, who charged the three remaining officers with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.

• Signatures: 19,679,461 — the largest petition in Change.org's history

• Decision makers: DA Mike Freeman (originally petitioned); Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (ultimately led the prosecution)

• Timeline: Started May 2020 → Chauvin arrested and charged May 29, 2020 → all four officers charged by early June 2020

• View the original Justice for George Floyd petition

Release Virgilio Aguilar Mendez immediately

Before: Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, an 18-year-old Indigenous Maya Mam teen, was tased and physically restrained by police outside his motel in St. John's County, Florida, in May 2023. When the responding officer suffered a fatal heart attack minutes later — ruled a death from natural causes by medical examiners — Virgilio was charged with aggravated manslaughter and held without bond for months.

What the petition starter did: Mariana Blanco, Assistant Director at The Guatemalan-Maya Center, started the petition calling on State Attorney RJ Larizza to drop the charges, while also directly naming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the ask to intervene in the case. She built the campaign around specific evidence that contradicted the official narrative: bodycam footage that surfaced after Sheriff Robert Hardwick's press conference showed no knife was ever pulled on Sergeant Kunovich and no trespassing occurred, directly undercutting the story Hardwick had given live on television. Blanco used that discrepancy to frame the case explicitly as a civil rights and due process issue. She connected his treatment to the broader pattern of Indigenous migrants being mislabeled and facing language-barrier discrimination in the justice system.

The campaign mobilized supporters to send letters directly to Virgilio while he was incarcerated. Supporters sent him thousands of letters during his time in custody, keeping his spirits up and sustaining his faith through the ordeal. The petition supporters became an active source of support for Virgilio himself, not just signatures pressuring officials from a distance. The campaign also connected Virgilio's family and legal team with pro bono representation, including public defender Rosemarie Peoples, criminal attorney Jose Baez, the Arroyo Law Firm, and immigration attorney Henry Lim — support the victory update credits as instrumental once the case moved from the criminal charges to the separate fight over his ICE detention.

After: The State Attorney's office dropped all charges, and Virgilio was released from ICE detention the following day.

• Signatures: 610,815

• Decision maker: State Attorney RJ Larizza

• Timeline: Incident May 19, 2023 → petition launched → charges dropped March 1, 2024 (roughly one year)

• View the original Virgilio Aguilar Mendez petition

Environment

Stop the burning of the Amazon rainforest

Before: In 2019, fires in the Brazilian Amazon increased 84% year-over-year compared to the same period in 2018, with more than 71,000 new fire points recorded by the Brazilian Space Agency. Gabriel Santos, a lawyer living in Rio Branco in the heart of the Amazon, was watching it happen daily and said he'd never seen so many fires in such a short time. The crisis became impossible to ignore. The fires weren't just destroying biodiversity and ecosystems — the resulting smoke was damaging the health of millions, especially elderly people and children.

The ask: Santos didn't petition for vague awareness or a general policy shift. He asked Brazil's federal government and Ministry of the Environment to open a formal inquiry into what was driving the surge in fires and to hold those responsible accountable.

What the petition starter did: The petition drew signatures from across Brazil and internationally, including Mexico, Colombia, France, Germany, Russia, and India, which Santos used as proof of global concern, not just domestic outrage. Once the petition passed 4.5 million signatures, Santos personally traveled to Brasília to deliver the signatures directly to the National Congress. He met individually with senators, several of whom spoke about the petition on the Senate floor. 

After: On the same day Santos delivered the signatures, Rodrigo Maia, President of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies, created a 13-member External Commission — including deputies Joênia Wapichana, Daniel Coelho, Tabata Amaral, Pedro Cunha Lima, and Felipe Rigoni — to evaluate and monitor environmental public policy across the ministries of Environment, Economics, and Agriculture. By late October, the Commission had six sub-rapporteurs in place and had already met directly with Environment Minister Ricardo Salles. 

• Signatures: 5,093,249

• Decision maker: Rodrigo Maia, President of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies

• Timeline: Started 2019 → 4.5 million signatures delivered to Congress September 3, 2019 → External Commission confirmed operational October 28, 2019 (about two months)

• View the original Amazon rainforest petition

Keep manatees fed, put HB 349 to bed

Before: Florida lost a record 1,101 manatees in 2021 — nearly double the five-year average, most from starvation tied to seagrass loss. The following year, state lawmakers introduced HB 349 and companion bills that would let developers destroy protected seagrass habitat as long as they paid into a "mitigation bank" — a fund meant to pay for regrowing similar seagrass habitat somewhere else, often hundreds of miles away, as an offset. Critics pointed out that seagrass transplanting has a poor success record precisely because it's expensive and difficult to do well, meaning the habitat destruction was guaranteed while the replacement was uncertain at best.

What the petition starter did: Two teenagers, Joey Gillespie Jr. and his sister, started a petition themselves with no formal organization behind them. They called out the bill's sponsors by name in the petition and directed supporters to the Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee's direct contact information, urging people to call and ask members to vote no. They logged roughly 220 hours on the campaign, sending lawmakers emails that included supporters' own comments explaining why they signed. They kept going despite facing harsh messages and censorship along the way. 

After: All three seagrass mitigation bills died in committee. Legislative focus shifted to seagrass restoration and replanting instead.

• Signatures: 3,151

• Decision makers: Florida Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee; Environment and Natural Resources Committee

• Timeline: Started 2022, in direct response to 2021 manatee death data → all three bills defeated in committee later that year

• View the original Florida seagrass petition

Animal Rights

Pass a Virginia law to protect dogs in harsh weather

Before: In January 2017, a dog named Rainbow froze to death in Accomack County, Virginia, chained too far from her shelter to reach it. Her owner was fined $150 after a suspended sentence. Virginia had no law defining minimum weather protections for outdoor pets.

What the petition starter did: Gary Sweeney, a member of Guardians of Rescue, petitioned Virginia's Attorney General, State House, and State Senate to close the gap, after an earlier attempt died in subcommittee in 2018. In 2019, he pushed for language changes to an existing bill on companion animal shelter requirements, helping add a provision requiring shelters to be insulated against both heat and cold. Then in 2020, when the House passed a much weaker companion bill with no specific temperature limits, Sweeney flagged the risk to supporters and directed them to contact members of the House Agriculture Committee directly, sharing contact info so people could reach their own delegates. He credited Sen. John Bell and Del. Mark Levine by name for championing the stronger bill and kept supporters updated through what he described as a close final vote.

After: Virginia passed SB272, making it illegal to tether a dog outdoors at 32°F or below or 85°F or above, during severe weather advisories, or overnight without an owner present, and increasing minimum tether length from 10 to 15 feet. A related bill, "Tommie's Law," separately upgraded animal cruelty to a felony even when the animal survives.

• Signatures: 1,031,320

• Decision maker: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (signed the bill); Sen. John Bell and Del. Mark Levine (sponsored it)

• Timeline: Started 2017 → first attempt killed in subcommittee 2018 → SB272 passed the legislature March 8, 2020 → signed into law April 11, 2020 (roughly three years)

• View the original Virginia dog protection petition

Critically endangered red wolves are dying on our roads

Before: Red wolves are the most endangered wolf species in the world. After a breeding male known as Airplane Ears was killed by a vehicle on Highway 64 in September 2023, the wild population fell to just 19 known wolves. Vehicle strikes were the leading cause of death for the species.

What the petition starter did: Aspen Stevanovski, a wildlife photographer and educator, petitioned the North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to build wildlife crossings and fencing along the 12-mile stretch of Highway 64 running through red wolf habitat. 

Nearly a year after the petition launched, when a private donor offered a $2 million matching challenge through the nonprofit Wildlands Network, Stevanovski shifted the campaign into an active fundraising push. She emailed her signers directly with a specific, time-boxed ask: raise $2 million by August 31 to unlock the donor's match, which would let NCDOT apply for a $16 million federal grant requiring a 20% nonfederal match — turning public donations into roughly 9x their value in federal funding. She asked supporters to donate directly to the cause or simply share the Change.org petition further.

After: A $2 million private matching campaign unlocked a 9:1 federal leverage ratio, and NCDOT applied for and received $25 million in federal grant funding — combined with $4 million in private funds — to build wildlife crossings in the red wolf recovery area.

• Signatures: 36,938

• Decision maker: North Carolina Department of Transportation

• Timeline: Started shortly after September 26, 2023 → private fundraising match completed by late 2024 → $25 million federal grant secured

• View the original red wolves petition

Education

UK government: Don't ignore 800,000 children in need of free school meals

Before: An estimated 800,000 children in the UK were living in poverty but fell outside eligibility rules for free school meals. The government had already declined once to extend the program to all children in need — despite pressure from campaigners and struggling families.

What the petition starter did: Christina Adane, who grew up on free school meals in south London, partnered with the youth-led movement Bite Back 2030 to run the campaign. The group had already proven the model worked: during lockdown, a related Bite Back 2030 petition calling for free school meals during school holidays drew over 400,000 signatures and got the Prime Minister to reverse course and fund holiday meal provision. Adane and Bite Back 2030 built directly on that momentum, teaming up with The Independent's "Feed the Future" campaign to press the government to go further and cover all 800,000 children left out. 

Their strategy combined petition pressure with direct lobbying: they sent nearly 2,000 emails to individual MPs, mobilized supporters to email their own representatives, and kept the campaign in the public eye across national media. That sustained pressure won the public backing of former Education Secretary Michael Gove and got the issue raised in Parliament. When the government's fall budget statement ignored the campaign entirely, Adane and fellow campaigners secured a direct meeting with Minister Stephen Morgan MP to make their case in person, continuing to press even after repeated setbacks.

After: After outlasting four Prime Ministers and six Education Secretaries over roughly three years, the campaign succeeded: the government announced that all children living in poverty would become eligible for free school meals, and committed to reviewing national School Food Standards to ensure school food is genuinely healthy and nutritious.

• Signatures: 262,813

• Decision maker: UK Government; Minister Stephen Morgan MP met directly with campaigners

• Timeline: Started 2021 → 220,000+ signatures and no movement by the Autumn 2022 budget → victory confirmed roughly three years after launch

• View the original UK school meals petition

Protect our children: Do not pass Senate Bill 500

Before: Danielle Green's daughter Angel died by suicide in 2013 after prolonged in-person and online bullying. A 2013 Indiana anti-bullying law was a hard-won safeguard — until Senate Bill 500 threatened to gut it by removing schools' authority to address bullying that occurred off-campus, including cyberbullying, and eliminating teacher training on suicide and bullying prevention.

What the petition starter did: Danielle Green launched the petition directly naming Senator Pete Miller, the bill's author, as the decision maker to reach. As SB 500 moved toward a vote, she kept supporters informed of exactly what was at stake by breaking down specific damaging provisions buried in the text. She launched the hashtag #StopSB500 and asked supporters to keep the campaign visible on social media while continuing to share the petition with friends and family as a vote neared. When early pressure convinced Miller to strip most of the harmful language from the bill, Green was explicit with supporters that the fight wasn't over — the amended bill still contained cuts to essential school safety programs. She pushed to keep momentum going until the final vote.

After: Senator Miller removed all the language from SB 500 that would have cut bullying and suicide prevention programs and reporting requirements. The bill passed with Indiana's existing anti-bullying protections fully intact.

• Signatures: 234,406

• Decision maker: Indiana State Senator Pete Miller

• Timeline: Started early 2015 → 227,000 signatures within two weeks → bill amended and passed within about a month

• View the original Indiana anti-bullying petition

Healthcare

FDA, approve life-saving nasal epinephrine for anaphylactic emergencies

Before: Most anaphylactic deaths are linked to delayed epinephrine use, often because patients or caregivers hesitate to use a needle-based auto-injector — especially on children. In May 2023, an FDA advisory panel voted 17-5 (pediatric) and 16-6 (adult) to approve a needle-free nasal epinephrine alternative. The FDA denied approval anyway that September.

What the petition starter did: Dave Bloom, CEO of food-allergy advocacy organization SnackSafely.com and a parent of a child with severe food allergies, petitioned the FDA directly. He ran the campaign in milestone batches: once the petition passed 20,000 signatures, he issued a formal press release and delivered the petition to both the FDA and Congress simultaneously. He was explicit with supporters that this was a staged strategy — telling them to keep sharing so that "once we reach the next milestone, we'll send the next batch of 20,000 to remind Washington that this is an issue of life-or-death importance." Throughout the campaign, Bloom grounded the emotional urgency in clinical evidence, including studies showing nasal delivery worked as effectively as auto-injectors and intramuscular injections — directly countering the agency's own reversal.

After: The FDA approved neffy, the first needle-free nasal spray for treating anaphylaxis, covering both the pediatric and adult populations the advisory panel had originally recommended in its 2023 vote. Bloom credited the sustained pressure from signers for the victory, telling supporters there was "no doubt" the campaign had nudged the agency into action.

• Signatures: 40,526

• Decision maker: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• Timeline: FDA denial September 2023 → first 20,000 signatures delivered to the FDA and Congress October 12, 2023 → neffy approved August 2024 (about one year)

• View the original nasal epinephrine petition

Better Medicare support for endometriosis care

Before: Around one million Australians live with endometriosis, a chronic condition causing severe pain and infertility. Medicare covered just $81.30 for an initial specialist consultation — enough for roughly 10 minutes with a gynaecologist — forcing many women into rushed appointments or steep out-of-pocket costs.

What the petition starter did: news.com.au launched the "About Bloody Time" campaign as a Change.org petition on March 1, using its own media platform to drive traffic and awareness alongside the petition itself. The petition proposed a specific legislative fix: Medicare coverage for consultations of 45 minutes or more, comparable to the consultation times given to other specialists like gastroenterologists, cardiologists, and neurologists.

The petition highlighted firsthand accounts from well-known Australian women, describing their own experiences with endometriosis pain and dismissive treatment. That combination of a public figure's platform and specific personal stories helped the petition spread quickly through media coverage beyond the Change.org page itself.

news.com.au also set a public, time-boxed target — 20,000 signatures by International Women's Day (March 8) — giving supporters a concrete deadline to rally around. 

After: The Australian Federal Government announced a $49.1 million investment creating a new Medicare item number for longer endometriosis consultations. Rebates for initial appointments more than doubled, from $81.30 to $168.60, funding an estimated 430,000 additional services nationally.

Health Minister Mark Butler directly credited the campaign, saying he was "deeply moved by the women who spoke about their experience with endometriosis during the About Bloody Time campaign" and that he hoped the announcement would help them "feel listened to."

• Signatures: 58,026 — the campaign's 20,000-signature goal was reached in 24 hours

• Decision maker: Mark Butler, Australian Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care

• Timeline: Launched March 1 → goal reached within 24 hours → $49.1 million investment announced roughly two months later, effective July 1, 2025

• View the original endometriosis support petition

Civil Rights

End conversion therapy in Canada

Before: LGBTQ+ youth across Canada were being subjected to conversion therapy — a practice condemned by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, and the Pan American Health Organization as medically baseless and harmful. No federal law banned it.

What the petition starter did: It Gets Better Canada, a registered nonprofit ran the petition framed around the psychological pressure, shaming, and distress young people endure from conversion therapy.

When a bill to ban the practice was introduced, they sent the petition's signatures directly to the specific officials shepherding it. When that bill died without passing and was reintroduced as Bill C-4, the campaign didn't restart from scratch — it tracked the bill's progress across sessions and re-mobilized supporters at the moments that mattered most procedurally. After the House of Commons voted unanimously to send Bill C-4 to the Senate in December 2021, the organization asked supporters to take one more targeted action: email individual Senators directly, providing a link to the full Senate roster, to push the bill through its final stage before Royal Assent.

After: Parliament passed Bill C-4, amending the Criminal Code to ban conversion therapy outright — criminalizing forcing anyone into it, subjecting a child to it, taking a child abroad for it, profiting from it, or advertising it. The bill received unanimous support in the House of Commons and Royal Assent in the Senate.

• Signatures: 126,912

• Decision maker: The Honourable David Lametti, Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General

• Timeline: Predecessor bill passed second reading October 28, 2020 → reintroduced as Bill C-4 → passed the House unanimously December 1, 2021 → Royal Assent December 8, 2021

• View the original petition Canada conversion therapy ban petition

Disney: Denounce the Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act

Before: In 2022, the Florida House passed the Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act — a.k.a. the "Don't Say Gay" bill. Reporting revealed Disney had financially backed every sponsor and co-sponsor of the bill, whose lead author had faced criticism for comments about same-sex parents. Disney had stayed publicly silent.

What the petition starter did: Jasmine Plows petitioned The Walt Disney Company directly, framing the ask around a specific contradiction: Disney marketed itself as a "safe space" for its many LGBTQ+ fans. She gave Disney a one-month deadline to meet two explicit conditions — a public denouncement of the bill and a commitment to stop funding its sponsors. She combined the ask with a personal consumer boycott pledge, telling supporters she had already cancelled Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ and would stay away from Disney parks and cruises until Disney complied.

When Disney's annual shareholder meeting approached, Plows shifted from petition pressure to direct shareholder pressure. She published the Twitter handles of specific board members and major shareholders along with a ready-made message template supporters could send, asking shareholders to vote against CEO Bob Chapek retaining his board seat. She kept supporters updated in near real time on developments that strengthened the campaign's position. 

After: CEO Bob Chapek issued a public statement taking responsibility for not opposing the bill sooner and committed to pause all Disney political donations in Florida pending a review of its donation strategy.

• Signatures: 4,433

• Decision maker: Bob Chapek, CEO, The Walt Disney Company

• Timeline: Started early March 2022, shortly after the bill passed the Florida House → shareholder meeting pressure March 9, 2022 → Disney statement and donation pause March 14, 2022 (under two weeks)

• View the original Disney petition 

Timeline: A Decade of Victories

Frequently Asked Questions

Do online petitions actually work? Yes. Change.org has produced 116,180 confirmed victories across 196 countries — nearly one every hour. Victories range from local wins, like a Florida bill dying in committee, to national policy change, like Canada's federal ban on conversion therapy.

How many signatures does a petition need to succeed? There's no fixed threshold. Petitions on this page won with as few as 3,151 signatures (Florida's seagrass bills) and as many as 19.6 million (Justice for George Floyd). What matters more than raw volume is whether the signatures reach and register with the right decision maker — a city agency, a corporate executive, a federal regulator, or a legislature.

What is the success rate of petitions on Change.org? Change.org doesn't publish a single success-rate percentage, since "success" ranges from full policy change to partial wins and ongoing pressure campaigns. What's documented is scale: 587,492,849 people have taken action on the platform, resulting in 116,180 victories to date.