What Campact does

Campact e.V. is a Berlin-headquartered, eingetragener Verein (registered nonprofit association) founded in 2004 by Christoph Bautz, Günter Metzges, and Felix Kolb. Its core function is digital civic mobilization: it operates campact.de as a large-scale petition and campaign hub, supplemented by the WeAct petition platform (launched 2015, reporting roughly 550,000 monthly active users under EU Digital Services Act disclosures). Together the platforms coordinate appeals to politicians and corporations across themes including AfD prohibition, climate, social justice, press freedom, and platform regulation, and have produced individual petitions exceeding 200,000-250,000 signatures.

The technology stack is a self-built, donation-funded digital campaign infrastructure rather than a commercial SaaS product. It comprises an email mobilization and double-opt-in verification system (Mailjet, Sinch SMS), online donation processing via Adyen with PayPal and Klarna support, the moderated WeAct petition platform, GDPR-compliant analytics (Piwik Pro consent, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel, Electica), and an Apertus AI-powered chatbot for campaign information delivery hosted on Telekom Cloud. Marketing and distribution lean on owned email, WeAct, Facebook/X/YouTube/Flickr channels, a self-hosted WordPress blog, podcast distribution via Podigee, event tooling via Guestoo, and external channel diversification via Sniply and Google "preferred source" placement.

The business model is donation-only. Campact declines funding from political parties, corporations, and government sources, financing itself through individual one-time donations and recurring 'Förder*innen' (patron) contributions from hundreds of thousands of supporters, supported by a foundation (Demokratie-Stiftung Campact) established in June 2019. Services are free to users; the WeAct Partner Program and WeAct Impact Fund extend Campact's reach to NGOs and activist organizations via consulting and grants rather than paid subscriptions. The organization is led by a four-person executive board (Bautz, Deilmann, Heinsen, Kolb), operates from Friedrichstraße 155 in Berlin, and reports a staff headcount in the 11-50 range.

Name

Campact

Legal name

Campact e.V.

Website

https://campact.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Campact e.V. is a Berlin-based nonprofit digital campaign organization founded in 2004 that mobilizes more than 4.5 million supporters through online petitions, campaigns, and donations to advance progressive politics and defend democracy in Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Campact is financed through donations from hundreds of thousands of people. Supporters can make one-time donations or set up regular funding contributions (Förderbetrag). The organization maintains complete independence from politics and corporations.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Campact operates an online petition and campaign platform that enables German citizens to sign appeals directed at politicians and companies, participate in progressive political actions, subscribe to newsletters, and donate. The organization coordinates campaigns on issues including democracy defense, climate, social justice, and anti-extremism, uniting more than 4.5 million supporters. Its WeAct sub-brand additionally provides a moderated petition platform where individuals and organizations can launch their own petitions and leverage Campact's reach and expertise.

Product overview

Campact operates a dual-platform ecosystem centered on petition-driven political campaigning. The primary platform, campact.de, functions as a large-scale petition and campaign coordination hub serving over 4.5 million supporters, enabling them to sign appeals targeting politicians, participate in online actions, subscribe to newsletters, and donate. This core platform is complemented by WeAct (weact.campact.de), a moderated petition platform launched in 2015 that allows individuals, organizations, and initiatives to create their own petitions and leverage Campact's reach and campaign expertise. The WeAct platform includes supplementary services such as the Partner Program (strategic consulting) and the Impact Fund (grant funding). The organization also deploys an AI-powered chatbot for campaign information delivery within specific actions. All services are funded exclusively through individual donations and regular supporter contributions, with no corporate or government funding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WeAct: Petition platform launched by Campact in 2015, allowing users to create and sign online petitions directed at politicians, companies, and the federal government.

Products and services

• Campact (campact.de) Digital petition and campaign platform serving over 4.5 million supporters, enabling citizens to sign appeals directed at politicians and companies, participate in online actions on democracy, climate, social justice and anti-extremism issues, subscribe to newsletters, and make one-time or recurring donations.
• WeAct Petition Platform Moderated online petition platform where individuals, organizations, and initiatives can create, publish, and promote petitions targeting decision-makers, politicians, and companies. Includes petition management, supporter communication, event coordination, and integration with Campact's campaign network. Averages 550,000 monthly active users.
• Save Social Petition WeAct-hosted petition initiative calling for regulation of Big Tech monopolies, digital taxation, and support for alternative platforms to preserve social networks as a democratic force.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4.5 million people united for progressive politics
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration34 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Save Social InitiativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerApproximately 100 cultural, economic, and media figures united in the Save Social initiative to propose ten concrete steps to free the internet from monopoly dominance. Includes musicians (Jan Delay, Dota Kehr, Sebastian Krumbiegel), authors (Marc-Uwe Kling, Saša Stanišić, Nina George, Uwe Timm, Isabel Bogdan), journalists, entrepreneurs, and NGOs.
• WeAct Platform PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWeAct partner organizations including NGOs, associations, and initiatives that use the platform for their campaigns. The WeAct Impact Fund provides financial support to promising petitions for posters, ads, or demo materials.
• Demokratie-Stiftung Campact (Campact Democracy Foundation)coreOthersThe Democracy Foundation Campact was established in June 2019. Campact e.V. and the foundation operate a shared user database in joint controllership under GDPR Art. 26.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Change.org: Global online petition platform used by individuals and organizations to start and sign campaigns. Directly comparable to Campact's WeAct on product surface (petition creation, signing, sharing) and target user (engaged citizens), though larger and international in scope.
• Avaaz: International civic campaign organization that mobilizes millions of members around progressive and humanitarian petitions, emails and protests. Closely comparable to Campact on both mission (defending democracy, climate, social justice) and operating model (donation-funded mass mobilization).
• MoveOn.org: US progressive political campaign organization with millions of members that runs petitions, rapid-response campaigns, and electoral mobilization. Comparable to Campact on membership scale, donation-funded model, and progressive issue mix.
• openPetition: German online petition platform offering free public and official (addressed to parliaments) petitions. Directly competes with WeAct in Campact's home market and shares the same citizen-led petition creation UX.
• 38 Degrees: UK-based civic campaign organization running large-scale member-driven campaigns on progressive issues. Operationally analogous to Campact in its reliance on member donations and email-driven mobilization.
• GetUp: Australia's largest progressive campaigning community, running petitions, rapid-response campaigns, and electoral mobilization. Comparable to Campact on donation-funded Australian-Germany progressive digital activism model.
• LeadNow: Canadian progressive citizen engagement organization driving campaigns via petitions and member mobilization. Functionally analogous to Campact in member-driven, donation-funded digital campaigning for progressive causes.
• SumOfUs: International consumer-corporate accountability campaign organization funded by small-dollar donations from members globally. Closely comparable to Campact in its donation-funded model, petition/campaign mechanics, and progressive, anti-corporate stance.

Regional players

• attac Deutschland: German affiliate of the global attac network for tax justice, democratic control of finance, and social-ecological transformation. Operates in the same progressive German civic space as Campact but emphasizes global political education rather than mass petition mobilization.

Others

• betterplace.org: Germany's largest online donation platform for nonprofits and social projects. Functionally an ecosystem peer through which some of Campact's partner organizations and donatees run their own donation flows, comparable in donation processing infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/campact
• Facebookfacebook.com/campact
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/campact-e-v-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Campact