ReThink Media

What ReThink Media does

ReThink Media is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, that builds communications capacity for progressive nonprofit and advocacy organizations. The organization serves as a shared services provider for movements working on Peace & Security, Rights & Inclusion, and (until 2025) Democracy issues, offering three core service lines: one-on-one strategic communications support for individual organizations, in-depth media and opinion analysis driven by a proprietary resources database of tens of thousands of quotes and stories, and tailored online and in-person media skills training. Its target customers are nonprofit advocacy organizations, foundations, and movement coalitions that lack internal communications infrastructure, with named engagement examples including the Forum on the Arms Trade and the Sikh Coalition.

ReThink's analytical platform combines human-curated media monitoring, publicly available polling, and a quote-and-story database to produce narrative research, message development, and voiceshare analysis that would be unaffordable for individual member organizations to procure independently. The organization maintains a small staff of 11-50 employees led by Executive Director Mark Reading-Smith, who succeeded co-founders Lynn Fahselt and Peter Ferenbach in October 2023, and operates with a management team including a COO, Director of Programs, and Director of Finance. Programmatic initiatives include the Voiceshare Initiative, which measures representation of underrepresented spokespeople in media, and the BAMEMSSA collaborative serving Black, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities.

Revenue is generated primarily through foundation grants from a concentrated set of funders including Carnegie Corporation of New York, Stand Together Trust, Ploughshares Fund, and Proteus Fund, supplemented by a membership program and, as of 2025, paid one-on-one client services. The organization operates primarily in the United States with a national scope, and its services are delivered both online and in-person. No public revenue figures, funding rounds, or commercial pricing are disclosed in the available material.

Name

ReThink Media

Legal name

ReThink Media

Website

https://rethinkmedia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ReThink Media is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds communications capacity for progressive advocacy organizations, offering media and opinion analysis, spokesperson training, and strategic messaging services across Peace & Security and Rights & Inclusion issue areas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Advocacy Communications Services

NAICS

Public Relations Agencies (541820), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

PR, Reputation Management & Earned Media Platforms (BPAMALAO), Media Relations & Press Office Services (BPAFADAF)

Keywords

• Advocacy communications services
• Media and opinion research
• Nonprofit capacity building
• Strategic message development
• Media training workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Charitable Funding: ReThink Media is a nonprofit organization that operates primarily through foundation grants and charitable funding. The organization mentions support from entities including Stand Together Trust, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ploughshares, and Proteus Fund, among others.
2. Membership Program: ReThink offers a membership program for organizations seeking to access their communications services, training, and research capabilities.
3. Training and Client Services: ReThink provides one-on-one communications services for individual organizations, including senior-level strategic communications guidance, tactical digital communications support, message analysis, narrative planning, and earned media placement services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ReThink Media provides communications capacity-building services for nonprofit advocacy organizations and think tanks, including one-on-one strategic communications support, in-depth media and opinion analysis driven by a proprietary resources database of tens of thousands of quotes and stories, and tailored media skills training workshops. These services are organized across three issue areas—Peace and Security, Rights and Inclusion, and Democracy—and supported by initiatives such as the Voiceshare Initiative and movement-building collaborations.

Product overview

ReThink Media is a nonprofit that provides communications capacity-building services for movements and advocacy organizations. The organization offers a unified set of services including One-on-One Client Services (strategic communications support), Media and Opinion Analysis (research and polling analysis), and Media Skills Training (workshops). These services are organized around three interconnected issue areas: Peace and Security, Rights and Inclusion, and Democracy. The organization also runs Movement Building initiatives and the Voiceshare Initiative to increase underrepresented voices in media.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Voiceshare Initiative: A program focused on increasing the voice share of underrepresented spokespeople in media coverage
• BAMEMSSA

Products and services

• One-on-One Client Services
• Media and Opinion Analysis
• Media Skills Training
• Membership Program
• Voiceshare Initiative
• Peace and Security Program
• Rights and Inclusion Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained hundreds of spokespeople, measurably changing the landscape of who is heard in American political discourse
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReThink Media partnered with the Nuclear Threat Initiative to commission a YouGov poll on American attitudes toward U.S.-Russia nuclear limitations. This collaboration represents a core partnership for ReThink's Peace and Security work, combining NTI's policy expertise with ReThink's communications and polling capabilities.
• Costs of War ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReThink collaborated with the Costs of War Project at Brown University to design a survey on voter attitudes toward Pentagon spending. The partnership combined ReThink's communications expertise with Costs of War's research on military spending impacts.
• Obet Montalvo and Salim ShariffminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReThink collaborated with digital communications strategists Obet Montalvo and Salim Shariff to enhance partners' digital communications and advocacy capacity through trainings, consulting projects, and hands-on assistance on digital advertising during election cycles.
• Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) - #MakeNukesHistory CampaignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReThink consulted on NTI's #MakeNukesHistory influencer campaign launched alongside the 2024 Academy Awards. ReThink staff member Grace Connors served as Scoville Peace Fellow working on this initiative. The campaign achieved over 4.9 million views and 338,000 engagements.
• BAMEMSSA Collaborative OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReThink collaborated with partner organizations serving Black, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities to develop movement-wide messaging and media strategies, including the BAMEMSSA collaborative for responding to the Muslim Ban and travel restrictions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Spitfire Strategies: Spitfire Strategies is a communications strategy firm that works exclusively with nonprofits, foundations, and movement organizations on message development, narrative change, and media strategy. It is the closest direct peer to ReThink Media given its nearly identical service mix (strategic communications, training, message research) and nonprofit-only client base.
• Resource Media: Resource Media is a nonprofit communications firm that provides media strategy, message development, and training to environmental and social justice advocacy organizations. It mirrors ReThink Media's nonprofit-only model and movement-building orientation, though with a stronger environmental focus.

Broad incumbents

• Fenton Communications: Fenton is a long-established progressive public relations and communications firm serving nonprofits, foundations, and corporate clients on social justice, environmental, and public health causes. It is comparable to ReThink Media through shared progressive cause focus, though it operates as a larger commercial agency with broader service offerings and corporate clients.
• Burness:

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rethink_media
• Facebookfacebook.com/rethink.media.collaborative.communications
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1039694

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 ReThink Media