What Change Research does

Change Research is a Public Benefit Corporation founded in 2017 that provides online public-opinion polling, voter targeting, and qualitative research primarily to Democratic candidates and progressive advocacy organizations, ranging from city council to U.S. Senate races. The company is headquartered in San Francisco but operates as a fully remote organization with 11–50 employees, and it functions as the partisan research arm complementing Embold Research, a nonpartisan subsidiary launched in 2021 that serves governments, businesses, and nonprofits.

The core technology stack centers on a proprietary Dynamic Online Sampling Engine that combines social-media advertising, SMS outreach, and targeted online sampling with post-stratification weighting, enabling diverse, representative voter samples at lower cost and faster turnaround (3–5 days for standardized work) than traditional phone-based polling. Layered on top of this engine are several productized offerings: Custom Polling (project-based), the standardized SPARK Candidate Viability Poll (starting at $6,000), Magnify AI Targeting (predictive voter scoring), Synthesizer AI (a generative chatbot drawing on 250M+ survey responses), Voices Qualitative Research (focus groups and interviews), Creative Testing, Omnibus Polls, and a subscription Data Portal with continuous tracking via the internal Compass Poll. The firm has surveyed over 3 million voters across all 50 states, with deep state-level depth in Ohio (128 polls, 88 counties) and North Carolina (227 polls, 100 counties), and reports campaign outcomes including helping flip the Pennsylvania State House in 2022 and re-electing 10 Members of Congress.

Commercial operations follow a hybrid go-to-market: a direct sales motion for custom projects (quotes routed through Typeform) combined with a lighter-weight, lower-friction self-serve path for the SPARK product. Revenue derives from professional-services project fees, bulk discounts, and recurring Data Portal subscriptions. Customer concentration is spread across many small-to-mid campaigns and issue-advocacy clients, with no single buyer accounting for a dominant share, though all customers are aligned to the Democratic/progressive end of the market. Funding history is minimal — only a disclosed $100,000 seed from Higher Ground Labs in April 2018 — suggesting the company has scaled primarily through operating cash flow as a privately held, internally financed Public Benefit Corporation.

Name

Change Research

Legal name

Change Research, Public Benefit Corporation

Website

https://changeresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Change Research is a Public Benefit Corporation providing fast, affordable online polling, voter targeting, and qualitative research to Democratic candidates and progressive advocacy organizations across all 50 U.S. states, using a proprietary dynamic online sampling engine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political Polling and Opinion Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

akta.pro primary industry

Quantitative Research & Survey Analytics (Survey Design, Sampling, Statistical Modeling) (MPAAALAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Brand & Advertising Research (Brand Health, Copy Testing, Campaign Effectiveness) (MPAAALAG)

Keywords

• Political polling services
• Voter targeting data
• Survey research firm
• Campaign research services
• Election analytics tools

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Polling Services: Project-based polling services for political campaigns and advocacy organizations, ranging from city council to US Senate races. Pricing starts at $6,000 for Spark Candidate Viability Polls, with custom projects priced according to scope.
2. Data Portal Subscription: Subscription access to the Change Research Data Portal providing clients with real-time polling data access, trend tracking, crosstabs, and voter analysis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Change Research conducts custom public opinion polling and research for Democratic political campaigns, progressive advocacy organizations, PACs, and political parties. Its offerings span fixed-fee candidate viability polls (SPARK), qualitative research (Voices, Synthesizer AI), voter targeting (Magnify AI), creative testing, omnibus polls, caucus polling, and a subscription-based Data Portal that exposes respondent-level data to clients.

Product overview

Change Research is a public opinion research company offering a platform of polling and AI-powered research products for Democratic candidates, campaigns, and progressive causes. The core offering is Custom Polling, complemented by standardized SPARK Candidate Viability Polls for faster turnaround at lower cost. AI-powered products include Magnify AI Targeting (predictive voter modeling) and Synthesizer AI (knowledge retrieval chatbot). Qualitative offerings include Voices Qualitative Research and Creative Testing. The company also operates the Compass Poll (internal tracker) and a Data Portal for ongoing client access to polling data. All offerings are delivered through a proprietary Dynamic Online Sampling Engine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Polling Bespoke public opinion surveys tailored to a campaign's or advocacy organization's specific race, audience, and timing; serves Democratic candidates, PACs, and progressive advocacy groups.
• SPARK Candidate Viability Poll Standardized viability poll designed for long-shot or first-time Democratic candidates who need a quick signal on whether to run; delivered as a fixed-fee product for self-serve purchase.
• Magnify AI Targeting AI-driven voter targeting tool that uses survey-collected data to identify and segment persuadable voters for campaign and advocacy outreach.
• Voices Qualitative Research Qualitative research service that gathers open-ended voter feedback to help campaigns and advocacy groups understand the 'why' behind the numbers from quantitative polls.
• Creative Testing Survey-based testing of campaign creative assets and message variants, typically delivered to candidates, parties, and advocacy organizations pre-launch.
• Omnibus Polls Syndicated omnibus surveys in which multiple clients share fielding costs and each receives custom cuts of the same poll.
• Caucus Polling Targeted polling of caucus-state primary voters to support campaign strategy in states such as Iowa and Nevada.
• Synthesizer AI AI-driven qualitative synthesis tool that processes open-ended survey responses into structured themes to accelerate the qualitative reporting workflow.
• Compass Poll Standalone polling product within the Change Research offering line for tracking or diagnostic research with client-specific branding.
• Change Research Data Portal Subscription-access data portal that gives subscribers access to Change Research polls, cross-tabs, and aggregated respondent data for ongoing analysis.

Quantifiable outcome

• Polling accuracy validated in 2020 elections across battleground and down-ballot races
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Embold ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmbold Research is Change Research's nonpartisan unit focused on public opinion research for governments, businesses, and nonprofits working to improve their communities. Launched in 2021 as a separate business unit serving nonpartisan clients.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and polling firm with significant political research practice serving campaigns, media, and government clients. Comparable in political research products and AI-augmented analytics, though much larger and more diversified across industries.
• Morning Consult: Large-scale business and political polling firm with proprietary online panel methodology and AI-powered research products. Directly comparable in methodology and AI-product positioning, though much larger and serving enterprise clients across industries.
• YouGov: Global online polling and market research firm with one of the largest proprietary panel assets. Comparable in online methodology and political research products, though significantly larger with diversified commercial and political client base.
• Marist Poll: Highly regarded academic-affiliated polling operation with strong brand in political and policy research. Comparable in serving campaigns and media, though uses probability-based live interviewer methodology rather than online sampling.
• Pew Research Center: Premier public opinion research institution with deep methodology rigor, large datasets, and policy/campaign research output. Comparable in survey research depth, though operates as a nonprofit with broader societal focus.

Direct peers

• SurveyUSA: Pioneer of online polling methodology for political campaigns, news organizations, and corporate clients. Comparable methodology (online sampling, interactive voice response) and similar focus on fast-turnaround political polling at scale.
• Civiqs: Online public opinion polling firm serving political campaigns, advocacy organizations, and media. Comparable in online methodology, progressive-leaning client base, and subscription-based data tracking products similar to Change Research's Data Portal.
• Emerson College Polling: Academic-affiliated polling operation producing election and policy research using mixed-mode online and IVR methodology. Comparable in serving campaigns and media, though with a more bipartisan client base.
• Data for Progress: Progressive-aligned polling and policy research firm that conducts public opinion research for Democratic campaigns and progressive causes. Most direct peer to Change Research given overlapping ideological client base, similar online methodology, and focus on issue advocacy polling.
• Public Policy Polling (PPP): Long-established Democratic-aligned polling firm that conducts automated and online polling for campaigns, PACs, and progressive organizations. Highly comparable in client base and product offering, though PPP uses a different (automated phone) methodology.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/changepolls
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChangePolls
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/change-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Change Research