Public Good Software

What Public Good Software does

Public Good Software is an Illinois Benefit Corporation headquartered in Chicago that operates a digital purpose marketing platform connecting Fortune 500 brands with social causes through publisher-embedded engagement units. The company's core offering centers on proprietary AI-based contextual targeting technology that classifies news content by topic (e.g., climate change, racial equity, hunger, health) and serves interactive "Impact Units" to readers at moments of inspiration, enabling them to volunteer, donate, pledge, or contact representatives without leaving the article. The platform processes millions of articles annually without editorial intervention and is positioned as a brand-safety- and privacy-compliant alternative to traditional digital advertising, with reported performance metrics including 11% average brand lift, 4x industry-benchmark attention metrics, and 5-10x higher CTR.

The company serves two distinct customer segments: enterprise brands (Microsoft, Pfizer, Unilever, Target, Verizon, GM, Mars, CVS, AstraZeneca, L'Oréal, Barbie/Mattel, REI, Allstate Foundation, Conagra, Clorox, Chevrolet, Danone, Lenovo, Pepsi, and others) for purpose-driven marketing campaigns, and nonprofit organizations (NAACP, Planned Parenthood, American Lung Association, National Wildlife Federation, Doctors Without Borders, Gates Foundation, Ad Council, and others) for supporter acquisition and engagement. Revenue is generated through a mix of donation processing fees (approximately 5% retained by Public Good on transactions processed via DonateWell and Braintree/PayPal), premium SaaS subscriptions (Pro and Platinum tiers offering donation forms and APIs), and CPM-based campaign fees available to nonprofits. Distribution operates through direct enterprise field sales, dedicated nonprofit outreach, and publisher media partnerships that embed Impact Units within news content.

The company was founded in 2013 by Melissa Anderson and Dan Ratner, remains founder-controlled without disclosed institutional ownership beyond early angel funding (~$1.925M total across 2013-2015, with the largest round led by Hyde Park Angels), and has recently pivoted messaging around an "AI-for-Good" platform identity and launched a new Search.com division in 2025. Public Good maintains compliance with GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, and IAB Europe's TCF v2.2 framework, with infrastructure hosted on AWS.

Name

Public Good Software

Legal name

Public Good Software, Inc.

Website

https://publicgood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Public Good Software operates an AI-based contextual targeting platform that embeds interactive Impact Units in publisher content, enabling Fortune 500 brands to run purpose-driven marketing campaigns alongside nonprofit causes at moments of reader inspiration.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Marketing Software

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Public Relations Agencies (541820)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

PR, Reputation Management & Earned Media Platforms (BPAMALAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

Keywords

• Contextual advertising technology
• Purpose marketing platform
• Digital marketing software
• Nonprofit donation platform
• Advertising technology platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donation Processing Fees: Platform enables donations to nonprofits through embedded donation pages. Public Good retains up to 5% of donations processed, with DonateWell handling 3% administration fee and 2.75% + $0.30 going to merchant services (Braintree/PayPal). No refunds on donations.
2. Software-as-a-Service Premium Services: Premium SaaS tiers (Pro and Platinum) providing donation forms, APIs, and capabilities for enterprise organizations. Transaction fees not charged on embedded forms, only merchant processing fees. Subscription fees may apply for some premium services with one year's written notice for changes.
3. CPM-based Campaign Fees: Nonprofits can pilot campaigns on a CPM (cost per mille) basis, providing predictable pricing for campaign execution

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Public Good Software operates a proprietary AI-based contextual targeting platform that matches consumer brand sponsorships with relevant editorial content about social causes. The platform delivers interactive Impact Units within news articles, enabling readers to take actions like volunteering, donating, or contacting representatives while being exposed to sponsoring brands. Premium SaaS tiers (Pro and Platinum) provide nonprofits and enterprises with donation forms, APIs, and embedded capabilities beyond the core platform.

Product overview

Public Good Software is a digital purpose marketing platform that uses proprietary AI-based contextual targeting to connect top brands with social causes. The core technology stack consists of Impact Units (interactive engagement units appearing within content), Contextual Purpose Targeting (AI engine matching content with causes), and AI-for-Good (machine learning platform processing millions of articles yearly). The company also offers SaaS tiers (Pro and Platinum) providing donation forms, APIs, and embedded capabilities for premium nonprofit clients. Impact Units serve readers actions (volunteering, donating, pledges) alongside sponsoring brands at moments when readers are inspired by news content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Impact Units Interactive engagement units displayed within news content that allow readers to take action on social causes (volunteering, donating, contacting representatives, signing pledges) while being exposed to sponsoring brands. These units appear at moments when readers are inspired by cause-related content.
• Contextual Purpose Targeting AI-based contextual targeting technology that identifies news content related to social causes and serves relevant Impact Units to engaged readers. The system matches brand purposes with content topics in real-time across millions of articles.
• AI-for-Good Machine learning platform leveraging cutting-edge AI to identify social causes in content at scale, enabling matching between readers and actionable opportunities. The technology lets solutions scale to millions of articles every year without editorial intervention.

Quantifiable outcome

• 11% average brand lift for campaigns
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers28 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• DonateWellcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDonateWell is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that sponsors a national donor-advised fund. They receive and process donations made through Public Good's websites and apps. DonateWell retains up to 10.9% + $0.30 of donations to cover fundraising, banking, merchant account fees, and disburses the remainder to advised charities. Public Good receives approximately 5% of donations for technology and services.
• Braintree (PayPal)coreTechnology or IntegrationBraintree, a division of PayPal, Inc., provides payment processing services for Public Good. Merchant processing fees are 2.75% + $0.30 per transaction. Organizations must enter into Merchant Services Agreement with Braintree and its sponsoring bank to use payment processing.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationInfrastructure hosted on AWS with security best practices including TLS 1.2+ encryption in transit, AES-256 encryption at rest, restricted data access, and regular security audits.
• Gates FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured partner and conference summit sponsor. Gates Foundation Summit mentioned as a featured event where Public Good participates. Represents a flagship partnership in the social impact space.
• Publishers/Media PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublishers partner with Public Good to embed Impact Units in their content, enabling readers to take action on social causes. The platform makes news actionable within publisher articles. Public Good has a 'Become a media partner' form for new publisher acquisition.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Kantar: Global market research and consulting firm with dedicated purpose, sustainability, and brand-meaning practice. Adjacent rather than competitive — Kantar provides the strategic insights that drive enterprise buyers to platforms like Public Good.

Broad incumbents

• Taboola: Publicly-traded content-discovery and native advertising platform with extensive publisher partnerships. Comparable in publisher-distribution scale and contextual targeting, but focused on performance/content recommendations rather than cause-marketing.
• GumGum: Larger contextual AI advertising platform using computer vision and NLP for brand-safe ad placement. Competes with Public Good in contextual targeting but lacks the cause-marketing and nonprofit-supporter-acquisition angle.
• The Trade Desk: Leading independent demand-side platform with growing contextual and sustainability targeting capabilities. Competes for Fortune 500 purpose-marketing budgets as agencies shift dollars from behavioral to contextual inventory.
• Peer39: Contextual intelligence and brand-safety provider acquired by DoubleVerify. Direct competitor in contextual ad classification; comparable NLP-based content analysis to Public Good's cause-content detection engine.
• DoubleVerify: Publicly-traded leader in media effectiveness, brand safety, and contextual classification. Overlaps with Public Good on brand-safety and contextual relevance, but operates as a verification layer across the buy side rather than a cause-marketing destination.
• Integral Ad Science (IAS): Global media measurement and optimization platform specializing in brand safety, viewability, and contextual targeting. Competes for the brand-safety portion of Public Good's value proposition with much larger enterprise reach.

Direct peers

• Scope3: Ad-tech company focused on sustainability and emissions measurement across the digital advertising supply chain. Adjacent purpose-driven ad-tech player serving the same Fortune 500 buyers increasingly prioritizing ESG and brand-suitability outcomes.
• Smartology: Contextual AI platform that matches brand advertising with relevant editorial content in real time. Directly comparable to Public Good's proprietary contextual targeting engine, with a similar brand-safety and relevance proposition for enterprise advertisers.
• Good-Loop: Purpose-driven advertising platform that connects brands with consumers through cause-linked ad formats and donates a portion of media spend to charity. Closest direct competitor to Public Good in the cause-marketing / 'ads that do good' category serving similar Fortune 500 brand buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/publicgood
• Facebookfacebook.com/PublicGoodSoftware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-good-software-inc-

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

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 Public Good Software