What supporter data petition starters can access on Change.org

When someone signs your petition on Change.org, you get real, usable information about who your supporters are and where they're from. For privacy reasons, you don’t get their email address, but when you post petition updates, those will be emailed to the supporters who have opted in to receive them. This guide explains exactly what you do get, how to download it, and how to communicate with your supporters through the tools Change.org provides.

The short answer

When someone signs your petition, Change.org shares the following information with you as the petition starter:

• Their first and last name

• Their country and postal code

• The date they signed

• Their comment, if they left one

What you can download

You can download your petition signatures as a CSV file directly from your petition dashboard. The export includes one row per signer with the following fields:

• Name ➡️ Signer's first and last name

• Country ➡️ Country of the signer

• Postal code ➡️ Postal code, detected by IP address or entered manually

• Signed on ➡️ Date the petition was signed (year, month, day)

• Comment ➡️ The signer's comment, if one was submitted

Supporters’ data is for presenting petition support to the named decision maker only. It may not be used for marketing, solicitation, fundraising, or unrelated purposes, and may not be sold or transferred to third parties. 

What you can’t download

Email addresses. Signer email addresses are not shared with individual petition starters. This is stated in Change.org's privacy policy and is not something that can be unlocked through a plan, membership, or other setting.

The exception is that nonprofit organizations who launch campaigns on Change.org do have access to the email addresses of supporters who’ve opted in to share that information.

Phone numbers. Phone numbers are not shared with petition starters.

How to reach your supporters: petition updates

Change.org has a built-in tool for communicating with your supporters after they sign: petition updates. This is the primary way to keep supporters informed, mobilize them to act, and maintain momentum across a long campaign.

How it works: When someone signs your petition, they can opt in to receive email notifications from you. When you post an update, it will publish directly on your petition page where anyone can read it. You can also choose to send the update as an email to supporters who opted in. If you just want to post the update on your petition and not email it to your supporters, you can indicate that in the update field.

Updates can include text, a headline, a photo, and a video link (YouTube or Vimeo). You post them directly from your petition dashboard. Change.org does not post updates on your behalf.

Anyone who has a profile on the platform, including petition starters and signers, can manage what emails they receive from Change.org in their account settings at any time. Users can unsubscribe from certain types of notifications or unsubscribe from all emails.

What supporters see: Supporters who opted in receive an email notification each time you post an update. Supporters who have opted out of Change.org emails will not receive the email, but can still view your updates on the petition page.

Sending limits: To prevent supporter inboxes from being overwhelmed, Change.org limits update emails to one per 24-hour period and three per week. If you post more frequently than that, the additional updates will appear on your petition page but will not generate email notifications.

What to use updates for: Petition updates work well for sharing news about your campaign, announcing meetings with decision makers, reporting on media coverage, calling supporters to specific actions (attending a meeting, contacting a representative), and announcing milestones or victories.

Animal rights advocate Gary Sweeney used petition updates across three years to bring over one million supporters along on his campaign to pass legislation in Virginia protecting dogs from extreme temperatures. In dozens of updates, he shared every meeting with officials, every setback, and every milestone — until the governor signed the bill into law in April 2020.

Privacy choices signers have

Supporters have control over how their information appears publicly. When signing, they can uncheck the option to display their name and comment on the petition page. If they do this, their signature still counts and their data is still shared with you as the starter — but their name will not appear in the public signer ticker or anywhere visible on the petition page.

Signers can also use a pseudonym or initials instead of their full name. Change.org does not verify identity or require names to match official documents.

These privacy choices affect public display only. As the petition starter, you receive the name and location data regardless of a signer's display preferences. This is explained to signers in Change.org's privacy policy.

Best practices for follow-up

Send your first update early. Don't wait for a major milestone. A brief update shortly after launch — explaining why the campaign matters and what comes next — signals to supporters that you're actively running the campaign and gives them a reason to share it.

Use the location data. Your supporter export includes country and postal code for every signer. This lets you identify where your support is geographically concentrated, which is especially useful for local and regional campaigns. If a significant share of your signers are from the same area as a decision maker, that's concrete proof that the issue matters to their constituents.

Use comments as evidence, not just data. Comments left by signers appear in the Supporter Voices section on your petition page and are downloadable. These show how your cause directly affects and matters to your supporters. When presenting your petition to a decision maker, a selection of specific, personal comments often carries more weight than a raw signature count.

Be specific in your calls to action. Updates that ask supporters to do one concrete thing, like contact a specific office, attend a specific meeting, or share the petition by a specific date, successfully drive action. The more specific the ask, the more useful the update.

Keep supporters in the loop even when progress is slow. Campaigns that go quiet lose momentum. An update that honestly describes a setback and explains the next step keeps supporters engaged and can generate a fresh wave of signatures.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I see my signers' email addresses?

Change.org's privacy policy limits what data is shared with petition starters. Email addresses are not shared because they would allow petition starters to contact signers outside the context of the petition — which signers did not consent to when they signed. The petition update tool is designed as the channel for starter-to-supporter communication within the platform.

Can I export my supporter data at any time?

Yes. You can download your signature CSV from your petition dashboard at any time while your petition is active.

What happens to supporter data if I delete my petition?

If you delete your petition, you lose access to the supporter data associated with it. If you need to retain that data for your campaign, download your export before deleting.

Does Change.org use my supporters' contact information for its own communications?

Change.org may contact signers about related petitions or platform activity in accordance with its privacy policy. Phone numbers, if provided, may be used by Change.org to coordinate media coverage or send text message updates related to the petition. Petition starters do not control or have access to these communications.

Can I see which supporters opted in to receive my updates?

No. You can see how many supporters received a given update, but you can’t see which individual signers opted in or out.