Center for Tech and Civic Life

What Center for Tech and Civic Life does

Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that operates a nationwide program portfolio aimed at modernizing U.S. election administration. Its core products include a self-paced online training catalog (covering cybersecurity, poll worker management, geo-enabling elections, post-election audits, and trusted election communications), two civic data platforms — the Ballot Information Project and the Governance Project — which together catalog every U.S. ballot and elected official and have been accessed more than 250 million times, the ELECTricity newsletter network connecting thousands of election officials, the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence (a five-year, $80 million initiative launched in April 2022 that certifies local election departments against the Standards for Election Excellence), and Counted, a quarterly print magazine for election officials.

CTCL's platform architecture is purpose-built for the election-administration vertical: an online learning management system hosts Creative Commons-licensed courses; civic databases aggregate data from 8,000+ election jurisdictions; the Alliance certification platform manages peer learning cohorts; and Counted magazine extends reach through a physical delivery channel. The underlying technology stack is conventional web and data infrastructure with no disclosed AI/ML components, and no public APIs or SDKs.

CTCL's business model is a nonprofit funding mix. All training, resources, and data products are provided free of charge, eliminating traditional revenue pricing. Operating support comes from foundation grants — most notably an $80 million Audacious Project commitment via the Skoll Foundation and partner funders — supplemented by individual donations disclosed through IRS Form 990 filings and modest earned revenue from programs and services. CTCL additionally disburses its own grant programs (2020 and 2024 Rural and Nonmetro Election Infrastructure Grant Programs) using donated capital. Its primary customer segment is local election officials and departments (city, county, township), with secondary segments including voters via public civic data tools and certified Alliance member departments.

Name

Center for Tech and Civic Life

Legal name

Center for Tech and Civic Life

Website

https://techandciviclife.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Center for Tech and Civic Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free training, civic data tools, grants, and certification programs to modernize U.S. election administration for the 8,000+ local election jurisdictions it serves.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Election Administration Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Computer Training (61142)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Live Polling, Quizzing & Formative Assessment Engagement Tools (EDAFAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Career & Technical Education (CTE) & Trade Skills Media (EDAGALAG)

Keywords

• Election administration training
• Civic data platforms
• Election infrastructure grants
• Voter information services
• Election certification programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: CTCL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that receives financial support from foundations including the Audacious Project funding collective, Skoll Foundation, and other philanthropic organizations.
2. Individual Donations: CTCL receives donations from individual supporters as part of their healthy mix of financial support.
3. Earned Revenue: CTCL generates some earned revenue through their programs and services, as stated in their 990 filings information.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CTCL provides free online training courses, nationwide civic data products (The Ballot Information Project and The Governance Project), nonpartisan grants, and the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence certification program to modernize American election administration. It serves local election officials and departments across 8,000+ U.S. jurisdictions, with its data accessed 250 million+ times and election officials trained by CTCL serving 80 million+ voters in 2018.

Product overview

Center for Tech and Civic Life offers a comprehensive suite of products and programs focused on election administration excellence. The core offerings include the ELECTricity newsletter network, self-paced online training courses covering topics like cybersecurity, post-election audits, and voter engagement, and the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence with its Standards for Election Excellence and Alliance Certification Program. Supporting products include Counted Magazine (a quarterly print publication), The Ballot Information Project and Governance Project (data products providing nationwide election and official data), and the Election Toolkit providing practical tools like RFP guides and website templates. The organization also administers grant programs for election infrastructure improvement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ELECTricity: A network of election officials that shares stories and best practices through a newsletter.
• U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence
• Ballot Information Project
• Governance Project
• Counted

Products and services

• ELECTricity Newsletter A newsletter network that connects election officials across the U.S., enabling them to share stories, best practices, and resources on election administration. Available free via sign-up on the CTCL website.
• Self-Paced Online Training Courses Free self-paced online courses for U.S. election officials covering cybersecurity, geo-enabling elections, poll worker programs, post-election audits, and communicating trusted election information. Hosted on CTCL's learning management system at learn.techandciviclife.org.
• U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence A nonpartisan collaborative initiative to envision, support, and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration. Includes the Centers for Election Excellence program and the Alliance Certification Program. Backed by a five-year, $80 million Audacious Project strategy and introduced at TED2022.
• Standards for Election Excellence Voluntary, nonpartisan standards for election excellence that election departments use for self-assessment and pursue certification against under the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence.
• Counted Magazine A first-of-its-kind print magazine for local election officials featuring best practices for emergency management and cybersecurity, case studies on poll worker recruitment and training, and profiles of offices piloting the Standards for Election Excellence and Alliance Certification Program. Delivered quarterly to election office mailboxes, with a digital version also available.
• The Ballot Information Project A nationwide dataset showing who and what is on the ballot for each election, sourced from 8,000+ election offices and jurisdictions across the U.S. and accessed 250 million+ times by users.
• The Governance Project A nationwide database of federal, state, and local elected officials, providing standardized data on officeholders across the U.S.
• Election Toolkit (ElectionTools.org) A toolkit at ElectionTools.org providing resources for election officials including RFP guides, website templates, and best practice tools.
• Running for Office Starter Kit A lookup tool that provides citizens with information about public offices they can run for and materials to streamline the candidate filing process.
• Grants Program Nonpartisan grant funding for election infrastructure, including the 2020 and 2024 Rural and Nonmetro Election Infrastructure Grant Programs, providing direct funding to eligible election departments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 250 Million+ data accesses for candidate and elected official information
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 August 2022NIST sponsored CTCL's development of training on using NIST's Cybersecurity Framework Profiles for election departments. The training helps election officials and IT professionals create customized cybersecurity requirements.
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2020CTCL partnered with the EAC to deliver cybersecurity training nationwide, providing free self-paced courses for election officials on cybersecurity and combating misinformation.
• Seattle FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeattle Foundation jointly manages the Voter Education Fund with King County Elections, contributing equally to grant funding and handling application and selection processes for community organization grants.
• Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCJRC collaborated with Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez on SB24-072 (Voting for Confined Eligible Electors) bill that made Colorado the first state to ensure in-person voting for eligible incarcerated voters. CCJRC staff also assisted with eligibility checks and trained election judges.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Rock the Vote: Nonpartisan nonprofit focused on voter registration and civic engagement, particularly for younger voters. Comparable to CTCL's voter-engagement programming, though oriented to voter mobilization rather than election-official training.
• National Vote at Home Institute: Nonprofit focused on expanding vote-by-mail and early voting options for election officials. Comparable to CTCL in serving as a specialized resource hub for election administrators working to modernize voting methods.
• Fair Elections Center: Nonpartisan election reform organization focused on voter access and ballot design. Comparable to CTCL's voter-engagement and equity programming (e.g., Madison City Clerk's outreach model).

Direct peers

• Ballotpedia: Nonpartisan civic-data organization producing nationwide election, candidate, and ballot measure information. Highly comparable to CTCL's Ballot Information Project and Governance Project in mission, data scope, and target audience of voters and election officials.
• Verified Voting: Nonpartisan nonprofit focused on election security and verifiable voting systems, including auditing and certification of election technology. Comparable to CTCL in its nonprofit, nonpartisan positioning and its direct service to election officials on cybersecurity and post-election audits.
• Democracy Works: Civic-tech nonprofit that built TurboVote and other voter registration and information tools used by universities and election offices. Closely comparable to CTCL in operating a free civic-data platform serving both voters and election officials.
• Issue One: Cross-partisan nonprofit working on election reform, ethics, and government accountability. Comparable to CTCL in operating at the intersection of civic infrastructure improvement and election administration reform with foundation support.

Broad incumbents

• Brennan Center for Justice: Major nonpartisan policy and research organization at NYU School of Law that conducts influential research on election administration, voting access, and election security — overlapping with CTCL's policy and research positioning though operating at a much broader scale across multiple democracy issues.
• League of Women Voters: Long-established nonpartisan civic organization providing voter education, candidate information, and election administration advocacy. Comparable to CTCL in serving both voters and election officials with nonpartisan civic information, though with a much broader civic-education mission.
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission: Federal independent agency that administers federal election standards, certifies voting systems, and distributes federal election administration funds. Directly comparable to CTCL as an institutional partner/competitor in training, certification, and standards-setting for election officials.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/helloctcl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

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 Center for Tech and Civic Life