Sunrise Movement

What Sunrise Movement does

Sunrise Movement is a U.S.-based nonprofit youth climate organization founded in 2017, headquartered in Washington, D.C. (712 H St NE). Its mission is to organize young people under 35 to stop climate change and win a Green New Deal through a combination of mass mobilization, electoral organizing, and direct action. The organization operates a distributed model of hundreds of local chapters (hubs) across the country, with a small central staff of 1-10 employees coordinating national campaigns, training, and voter contact programs. Sunrise has an affiliated Political Action Committee (Sunrise PAC) and a 501(c)(3)-style Education Fund.

Sunrise's core "products" are advocacy campaigns and programs rather than commercial offerings. These include the ICE Out for Good campaign, Project Rise Up (a student and education-worker organizing track targeting May Day 2028), Green New Deal for Communities (a municipal-level policy campaign), an electoral organizing program endorsing Green New Deal candidates, a dues-paying membership program, and a library of organizer toolkits. Reach is multi-channel, anchored by 766K+ Instagram followers, active Twitter/X, TikTok, and YouTube accounts, SMS keyword "GND to 88504," email, and a website localized in 9 languages. Sunrise does not build proprietary technology; it relies on standard digital organizing platforms, mass texting, phone banking, and door-to-door canvassing.

The revenue model is a nonprofit mix of sliding-scale membership dues ($5-$45/month, with waivers available), one-time and recurring donations (including a "Sunrise Sustainer" program), and PAC contributions. Dues are allocated 33% to local hubs, 33% to central organizing, and 33% to a Principle Six Program that provides stipends up to $800/month for low-income members. Sunrise has been credited with helping elect hundreds of Green New Deal champions at all levels of government, contacting 6.5M+ voters in 2020 and 3M+ in 2022, influencing the 2019 endorsement of the Green New Deal by 23 of 25 Democratic presidential candidates, and contributing to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) and the creation of the American Climate Corps (2023).

Name

Sunrise Movement

Legal name

Sunrise Movement

Website

https://sunrisemovement.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sunrise Movement is a U.S. nonprofit that organizes young people under 35 through hundreds of local chapters to elect Green New Deal champions and run climate and anti-ICE campaigns. It funds itself via sliding-scale membership dues, donations, and a PAC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Advocacy and Youth Civic Engagement

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation (BPAGAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Climate Policy, Governance & NDC Support (BPADALAA)

Keywords

• Youth climate advocacy
• Green New Deal organizing
• Community organizing campaigns
• Electoral mobilization programs
• Membership movement organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Members pay dues on a sliding scale from $5-45/month. Dues are distributed: 33% to local hubs/chapters through hub finance system, 33% to central organizing budget, and 33% to Principle Six Program which provides stipends up to $800/month for low-income members.
2. Donations: Sunrise accepts one-time and recurring donations from supporters. Monthly 'Sunrise Sustainer' recurring donations are encouraged. They also accept stock/wire donations, donor advised fund contributions, planned giving, and check donations.
3. PAC Contributions: Sunrise PAC accepts contributions to support electoral organizing and endorsed candidates. PAC-related content is paid for by Sunrise PAC located in Washington DC.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sunrise Movement is a nonprofit youth climate organization that organizes young people under 35 through hundreds of local chapters (hubs) across the United States to demand political action on climate change. It runs advocacy campaigns (ICE Out for Good, Project Rise Up, Green New Deal for Communities), an electoral organizing program supporting Green New Deal candidates, and a sliding-scale dues-paying membership program that funds local hubs and the Principle Six stipend program.

Product overview

Sunrise Movement is a youth climate organization, not a technology product company. Its offerings consist of advocacy campaigns and programs: the ICE Out for Good campaign (opposing ICE through hotel protests and mass booking tactics), Project Rise Up (student organizing against authoritarianism), the Green New Deal for Communities local policy campaign, an Electoral Organizing program (endorsing Green New Deal candidates), a membership program with dues and benefits, and resource toolkits for organizers. These are social movement programs, not software products or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sunrise PAC: Political Action Committee associated with Sunrise Movement for electoral organizing.
• Sunrise Movement Education Fund

Products and services

• ICE Out for Good Campaign An organizing campaign opposing ICE occupation of cities through tactics including Wide Awakes (in-person protests outside hotels housing ICE agents) and mass booking/cancellation protests at hotels like Hilton to disrupt ICE accommodation logistics. Designed for young people and allied community members who want to mobilize against ICE enforcement activities as part of Sunrise's broader climate-and-democracy theory of change.
• Project Rise Up A campaign organizing students and education workers to use mass non-cooperation against the Trump administration's authoritarian overreach, training participants in mass cooperation for sustained action toward May Day 2028. Brings together students, workers, and unions in a coordinated escalation strategy.
• Green New Deal for Communities A local organizing campaign to win Green New Deal legislation at the city and town level, focusing on public housing, public transit, public power, and public spaces. Designed to give Sunrise chapters and community allies a direct path to policy wins at the local level.
• Electoral Organizing Program An ongoing electoral program that endorses and mobilizes support for candidates who back the Green New Deal, coordinating voter contact, phone banking, text campaigns, and primary campaign engagement. Delivered in partnership with Sunrise PAC, it helps endorsed candidates access grassroots volunteer support and youth voter mobilization through Sunrise's organized membership.
• Sunrise Membership Program Dues-paying membership program for young people under 35 that provides access to Sunrise trainings, programs, a membership sticker, and the Member Resources Directory, with funds distributed as 33% to local hubs through the hub finance system, 33% to central organizing, and 33% to the Principle Six Program which provides stipends up to $800/month for low-income members. Operates on a sliding-scale dues model of $5, $15, or $45 per month, with dues waivers for those who cannot afford to pay.

Quantifiable outcome

• 23 of 25 Democratic presidential candidates endorsed Green New Deal after Sunrise pressure (2019)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• American Association of University Professors (AAUP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAUP partnered with Sunrise Movement, Young Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and Rutgers University's Workplace Justice Lab to release a 'Schools Drop ICE' toolkit urging students to pressure universities into cutting contracts with companies providing services to ICE. The toolkit is part of the 'Create a crisis for university admin' campaign targeting surveillance technology providers.
• Labor Unions (AFL-CIO, SEIU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSunrise Movement works closely with major labor unions including AFL-CIO and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on shared campaigns including anti-ICE organizing, electoral mobilization, and Green New Deal policy advocacy. These relationships are central to Sunrise's 'intermovementalism' strategy of building solidarity across progressive causes.
• Progressive Political OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSunrise works with progressive organizations including Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), progressive members of Congress ('The Squad'), and allied climate organizations on shared electoral and advocacy campaigns. They developed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge and coordinate electoral strategy with allied groups.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Hip Hop Caucus: Hip Hop Caucus is a civic engagement organization mobilizing young people of color around climate, voting, and justice, overlapping with Sunrise's youth-driven, justice-centered organizing model and shared progressive coalition partners.
• Extinction Rebellion: Extinction Rebellion uses disruptive, nonviolent direct action and decentralized local chapters to demand climate action, mirroring Sunrise's hub-based mobilization and civil disobedience orientation, though with a different geographic and branding footprint.

Direct peers

• Working Families Party: Working Families Party is a progressive, multiracial third party that mobilizes voters and endorses candidates around economic and climate justice, sharing Sunrise's electoral organizing muscle, progressive donor base, and intermovementalism strategy.
• Our Revolution: Our Revolution is a progressive political organization that endorses and trains candidates and organizers around economic and climate justice issues, sharing Sunrise's voter mobilization, candidate endorsement, and movement-building approach.
• NextGen America: NextGen America is a youth-focused voter mobilization and progressive advocacy organization founded by Tom Steyer, directly comparable in its focus on turning out younger voters and electing climate-aligned candidates.
• Greenpeace USA: Greenpeace USA is a major environmental advocacy nonprofit using direct action, public campaigns, and media pressure on climate and fossil fuel issues, overlapping significantly with Sunrise's mobilization and protest-driven playbook.
• 350.org: 350.org is a global grassroots climate movement focused on ending fossil fuels, with a comparable member-driven, decentralized campaign model targeting both policy and direct action—making it the closest direct peer to Sunrise Movement.
• League of Conservation Voters: LCV is an environmental advocacy organization with an affiliated PAC that endorses and elects pro-climate candidates, closely paralleling Sunrise PAC's electoral organizing model and policy-driven endorsement strategy.

Broad incumbents

• Friends of the Earth: Friends of the Earth is an environmental advocacy nonprofit focused on climate, agriculture, and corporate accountability with an active policy and organizing arm that overlaps materially with Sunrise's climate-policy work.
• Sierra Club: Sierra Club is one of the largest and oldest U.S. environmental nonprofits, with overlapping climate advocacy and electoral activity. It operates at far greater scale across a broader portfolio, making it a broad incumbent in the same advocacy space as Sunrise.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sunrisemvmt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sunrisemovement4046
• Instagraminstagram.com/sunrisemvmt
• TikToktiktok.com/@sunrisemvmt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunrise Movement