Action Network
Action Network is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that provides a SaaS-style digital organizing platform—email, SMS, petitions, events, fundraising, and advocacy automation—for 12,000+ progressive nonprofits, labor unions, and political campaigns.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Action Network does
Action Network is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit technology organization founded in 2012 that builds a SaaS-style organizing platform for progressive causes. Its product suite includes Email, Mobile Messaging (SMS/MMS), Petitions, Events (in-person, virtual, and hybrid), Fundraising, Advocacy Automation (Ladders), Call Campaigns, Letter Campaigns, Forms, Surveys, and Groups/Networks. The company is the sole shareholder of Action Squared Inc., the corporation that builds the software, and Action Network Fund operates as a 501(c)(3) sister organization. A separate Action Builder sub-brand, launched in 2019, serves unions and progressive organizations with community management and leadership assessment tools.
Architecturally, the platform is delivered as a multi-tenant web application backed by a full-featured REST API (Python SDK documented at actionnetwork.org/docs), a read-only SQL Mirror for advanced analytics, and an embeddable widget system (oEmbed, shortcodes). It integrates with Twilio for SMS/MMS, Stripe and ActBlue for payments, Salesforce and Zapier for CRM/workflow, Mapbox for events and targeting, and dozens of smaller progressive-tech vendors (Resistbot, VoteAmerica, ControlShift Labs, iWillVote, BallotReady). A cooperative data co-op pools anonymized engagement signals across partner organizations and feeds ML-based engagement predictions and the Anonymized Target Booster targeting capability. Boost, a beta add-on launched in December 2025, layers natural-language reporting (ActionBot) on top of the existing data co-op.
The business model is primarily usage-based: Movement plan email at $1.25 per thousand with a $15/month minimum; Network plan at $2.50 per thousand with a $125/month minimum; mobile messaging at $10–$20 per thousand with $50–$100/month minimums plus telecom fees; enterprise custom pricing above 1 million emails/month; and the Boost add-on as a premium subscription layer. There are no setup fees or contractual commitments, and grassroots activists can sign up for free. Go-to-market is hybrid: product-led self-serve for grassroots users, inside sales for mid-market organizations via quote forms, and field/demo-led enterprise sales for large national organizations. The platform claims 12,000+ progressive groups, 55M+ letters sent, and 5M+ event attendees mobilized, with named customers including the DNC, AFL-CIO, MoveOn, Black Lives Matter, Women's March Foundation, Working America, the Collective PAC, Death Penalty Action, Run for Something, the Environmental Defense Fund, Common Cause, and the Canadian Labour Congress.
Action Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Action Network
- Legal name
- Action Network
- Website
- https://actionnetwork.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Action Network is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that provides a SaaS-style digital organizing platform—email, SMS, petitions, events, fundraising, and advocacy automation—for 12,000+ progressive nonprofits, labor unions, and political campaigns.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Action Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Progressive Organizing and Advocacy Software
- NAICS
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ), Social Media & Community Management (PR-led) (BPAFADAM)
Keywords
Where Action Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Action Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Email Partnership Subscriptions: Usage-based subscription billing for email services. Movement plan billed at $1.25 per thousand emails sent per month with $15/month minimum. Network plan billed at $2.50 per thousand emails sent per month with $125/month minimum.
- Mobile Messaging Subscriptions: Usage-based subscription billing for mobile messaging. Movement plan $10 per thousand messages with $50/month minimum. Network plan $20 per thousand with $100/month minimum. Plus telecom fees for short code or toll free number rentals.
- Enterprise Custom Pricing: Custom pricing for organizations sending over 1 million emails per month, with custom onboarding and training, and customization to ensure Action Network fits into tech ecosystem
- Boost Premium Features: Additional paid features including machine learning-based predictions, natural language reporting, and other advanced capabilities bundled as Boost package
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Monthly | Movement Plan - For single, small to midsize organizations starting at $15/month |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Network Plan - For federated or multi-group organizations starting at $125/month |
| Subscription | Monthly | Enterprise Plan - For organizations sending over 1 million emails/month, custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels10 records
Action Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Action Network is an integrated SaaS platform that helps progressive organizations, advocacy groups, unions, and political campaigns mobilize supporters, raise money, and run digital campaigns. Its core offerings are email marketing, mass mobile messaging (SMS/MMS), petitions, events, online fundraising, and advocacy automation — delivered through a cooperative development model that is exclusive to the progressive movement.
Product overview
Action Network is a platform-plus-modules product suite for progressive organizations, political campaigns, and advocacy groups. The core platform consists of integrated organizing tools: Email (mass email with A/B testing and ML-based predictions), Mobile Messaging (SMS/MMS with automation), Petitions (with multi-sponsor support and delivery), Events (in-person, virtual, and hybrid with ticketing), Fundraising (with ActBlue and Stripe integration), Advocacy Automation/Ladders (automated journey orchestration), Call Campaigns, Letter Campaigns, Surveys, and Forms. The Action Builder toolset (launched 2019) provides community management and leadership assessments. The Boost add-on (beta) offers AI-powered natural language reporting via ActionBot and machine learning-based engagement predictions. Organizations can use Groups for individual accounts or Networks for federated structures with hierarchical data flows. A SQL Mirror add-on provides read-only database access for advanced analytics.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Action Builder: Toolset launched in 2019 that helps unions and progressive organizations empower leaders and build organizing campaigns.
- Boost
Products and services
- Email Mass-email tool for progressive organizations, with built-in A/B testing, personalization with if/then logic, machine learning-based engagement predictions, drag-and-drop newsletter builder, and fully-branded email composition.
- Mobile Messaging Mass mobile messaging tool (SMS and MMS) with segmentation, automation, A/B testing, MMS attachments, and integration with email data for unified targeting; activists can sign up by texting keywords, with toll-free numbers and short codes available.
- Petitions Petition creation tool with multiple sponsors, detailed reporting, image/video support, and email or paper delivery options; includes petition targeting features and coalition support.
- Events Event creation and management tool supporting in-person, virtual, and hybrid events, with RSVP collection, ticket sales with instant delivery, event campaign maps for distributed coordination, and event vetting.
- Fundraising Online fundraising tool with ActBlue and Stripe integrations, one-time and recurring donations, international payment processing, and social sharing; supports fundraising pages, recurring upsells, and goals.
- Advocacy Automation (Ladders) Automated supporter journey tool that uses decision trees and triggers to send emails or mobile messages based on supporter actions, engagement levels, or location; includes templates for welcome and re-engagement sequences, and editable published ladders.
- Call Campaigns Telecommunications tool that enables activists to call elected officials, with click-to-call functionality, fallback numbers, integration with legislative district targeting, and keywords for call campaigns.
- Letter Campaigns Advocacy tool that allows activists to send letters to elected officials and targets, with shapefile support and Canadian targets; included in shapefile-enabled plan tiers.
- Surveys Data collection action type launched in August 2024 that collects data on activists using core or custom fields over multiple pages with conditional questions, ranked choice options, and regex validation.
- Forms Form builder with drag-and-drop interface supporting custom questions, conditional logic (if/then), ranked choice questions, and action-only fields.
- Action Builder Sub-brand toolset launched in 2019 for community management and leadership assessments; helps unions and progressive organizations empower leaders and build organizing campaigns through member management and leader tracking.
- Boost Premium add-on package (beta) that includes ActionBot for natural-language data chat and reporting, machine learning-based open predictions, and custom reporting via natural language.
- SQL Mirror Read-only database mirror for advanced data analysis and integration with external systems; available as an upcharge add-on with searchable documentation.
Quantifiable outcome
- 55,000,000+ letters sent through the platform
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Action Network
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Action Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration33 records
AI capability10 records
Feature10 records
Action Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AFL-CIOcoreDevelopment Partner who helped build Automated Ladders feature. Cooperatively determines development roadmap and priorities for Action Network tools.
- MoveOncoreDevelopment Partner helping shape the Action Network toolset for progressive organizations.
- Canadian Labour CongresscoreDevelopment Partner ensuring Canadian organizers' and digital practitioners' best practices are incorporated into the toolset.
- Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC)coreDevelopment Partner collaborating on tools for progressive electoral organizing.
- Democratic National Committee (DNC)coreBuilt the ActBlue sync feature with the DNC, helping progressives raise millions of dollars for candidates and organizations.
- Daily KoscoreDevelopment Partner for Mobile Messaging tool development. Daily Kos was proud to partner with Action Network in mobile messaging development.
- ActBluecoreIntegration partner for progressive fundraising. Track detailed donation data and activate ActBlue Express Lane donors with comprehensive sync.
- StripecorePayment processing partner for receiving donations. One of the most powerful payment processors for online transactions.
- TwiliocoreInfrastructure partner for mobile messaging. Handles sending of mobile messages, receiving replies and calls, purchasing and managing phone numbers.
- Action Squared Inc.coreSole shareholder of Action Squared Inc., the maker of Action Network and Action Builder toolsets. Action Squared builds digital tools in collaboration with progressive organizations.
- Action Network Fundcore501(c)(3) nonprofit sister organization that helps organizations incorporate organizing strategies alongside mobilization, digital, and data programs.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Action Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- NationBuilder: NationBuilder is a civic engagement platform offering website, email, and organizing tools to campaigns and nonprofits. It serves a similar customer base with overlapping email, fundraising, and community features.
- ActBlue: ActBlue is the dominant progressive online fundraising platform and a deeply integrated Action Network partner. While they are allies via the ActBlue sync, ActBlue also competes for share-of-wallet on fundraising tooling across the same progressive customer base.
- Mobilize: Mobilize is an event and volunteer management platform widely used by progressive organizations and campaigns. It overlaps with Action Network's Events, Petitions, and mobilization use cases and is often evaluated alongside it by the same buyers.
- CallHub: CallHub provides SMS broadcasting, phone banking, and dialer tools for political and advocacy campaigns. It competes with Action Network's Mobile Messaging and Call Campaigns for organizing budgets at progressive organizations.
- Bonterra (NGP VAN, EveryAction, Salsa): Bonterra's integrated suite (formerly NGP VAN, EveryAction, Salsa) offers email, mobile, fundraising, and advocacy tools for Democratic campaigns and nonprofits. It is the most direct full-suite competitor to Action Network in the progressive organizing space.
- Hustle: Hustle provides peer-to-peer SMS texting for political campaigns, labor unions, and nonprofits. It competes directly with Action Network's Mobile Messaging and Call Campaigns products for the same progressive and union buyers.
- ControlShift Labs: ControlShift provides distributed organizing and member-led campaigning tools for nonprofits and unions. It overlaps with Action Network's petition, event, and member engagement features for progressive and labor organizations.
Broad incumbents
- Blue State Digital: Blue State Digital is a long-established digital agency and platform provider for progressive causes (creator of the open-source ActionKit that preceded Action Network). It is a broader incumbent offering strategy, creative, and tooling services to the same progressive movement organizations.
Emerging players
- Donorbox: Donorbox is a modern online fundraising platform used by nonprofits for recurring donations, events, and donor management. It competes for fundraising share-of-wallet alongside Action Network's fundraising suite, particularly with smaller nonprofits.
- Humanitru: Humanitru is a cloud-based supporter engagement CRM used by nonprofits. It overlaps with Action Network's Groups and CRM capabilities and is increasingly evaluated alongside it by mid-sized advocacy and nonprofit customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Action Network social profiles
Digital presenceAction Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Action Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Action Network subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Action Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Action Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Action Network
What does Action Network do?
Action Network is an integrated SaaS platform that helps progressive organizations, advocacy groups, unions, and political campaigns mobilize supporters, raise money, and run digital campaigns. Its core offerings are email marketing, mass mobile messaging (SMS/MMS), petitions, events, online fundraising, and advocacy automation — delivered through a cooperative development model that is exclusive to the progressive movement.
Is Action Network a public or private company?
Action Network is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Action Network founded?
Action Network was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Action Network based?
Action Network is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Action Network make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Email Partnership Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are mobile Messaging Subscriptions, enterprise Custom Pricing and boost Premium Features.
Who are Action Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NationBuilder, ActBlue, Mobilize, CallHub, Bonterra (NGP VAN, EveryAction, Salsa), Hustle and ControlShift Labs. Blue State Digital is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Donorbox and Humanitru.
Does Action Network have an API?
Yes. Action Network offers a full-featured REST API that supports creating and managing actions, activists, emails, mobile messages, events, fundraisers, petitions, call campaigns, and more. The API supports phone-only activists, mobile subscriptions, call campaigns, webhooks, and ID target uploads. API endpoints are available on the email manage page. SQL mirror documentation is also available for read-only data access. Developer documentation is at actionnetwork.org/docs.
What industry is Action Network in?
Action Network's product category is Progressive Organizing and Advocacy Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFADAK, Nonprofit & Cause Communications, with a secondary code of BPAGAFAJ, Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy. Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7372.