What Ecochallenge does

Ecochallenge.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1993 in Portland, Oregon (originally as Northwest Earth Institute) that operates a digital platform for sustainability behavior change. The company serves a hybrid customer base spanning large enterprises (LinkedIn, Microsoft, US Bank, MetLife, Bank of America, Deloitte, AbbVie, Emerson), educational institutions, community/faith organizations, and individual consumers across 192 countries. Its core product is the Ecochallenge Platform, a web-based application featuring curated daily and one-time sustainability actions (150+ across 16 categories), real-time action tracking, team formation, leaderboards, social feeds, and a Collective Impact Dashboard that surfaces metrics such as CO2 saved, water conserved, plastic items refused, and volunteer hours. The platform supports 21-day behavior change cycles, branded custom deployments, and integration with enterprise SSO (Okta, Azure AD, SAML).

Name

Ecochallenge

Legal name

Ecochallenge.org

Website

https://ecochallenge.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ecochallenge.org is a Portland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates a digital sustainability behavior change platform, serving enterprises, educational institutions, community groups, and individuals across 192 countries through subscription sprints, custom platform deployments, live training, and discussion books.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Engagement Software

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability Engagement, Training & Behavior Change Programs (On-site) (BPABALAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

Keywords

• Sustainability engagement platforms
• Employee ESG behavior change
• Corporate sustainability programs
• Environmental discussion courses
• Habit tracking software

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sustainability Sprint Licensing: Organizations pay tiered licensing fees to run branded Sustainability Sprints on the Ecochallenge Platform. Pricing is based on organization size (number of users) with flat rates for smaller organizations and per-user pricing for larger deployments. Includes full feature set, technical support, and impact dashboards.
2. Custom Ecochallenge Platform Tiers: Three pricing tiers (Sprout, Bloom, Forest) with escalating features including action libraries, gamification, analytics, security, and customization options. Per-user pricing decreases at higher tiers and higher user counts.
3. Discussion Course Books and Materials: Sale of discussion course books including Choices for Sustainable Living ($35), Seeing Systems ($16), A Different Way (price not specified), and Menu for the Future ($16). Available in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.
4. Live Training Webinars and Workshops: Expert-led sustainability training sessions priced at $1,200 for webinars (up to 60 min, 100 attendees) and $2,500 for workshops (up to 90 min, 50 attendees). Includes planning support, tailoring, and facilitation.
5. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the nonprofit mission. Donations accepted online, by phone, or via mail. EIN 93-1075047. Recurring monthly donation option available.
6. Corporate Sponsorships: Major companies and philanthropic foundations sponsor Ecochallenge programs as part of their sustainability strategies. Sponsors receive visibility, employee engagement capabilities, and association with the Ecochallenge brand and mission.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ecochallenge operates a digital behavior-change platform that enables individuals, workplaces, businesses, and communities to participate in sustainability challenges, track actions, earn points, compete on leaderboards, and view real-time collective impact metrics. Enterprise offerings include Sustainability Sprints (14/21-day themed employee programs) and Custom Solutions Platform deployments in Sprout, Bloom, and Forest tiers, while individuals access free public Global Ecochallenges (Earth Month, People's, Beyond Plastic, Drawdown), live Sustainability Webinars, and Discussion Course books such as Choices for Sustainable Living.

Product overview

Ecochallenge.org offers a platform-plus-modules product architecture centered on the Ecochallenge Platform, a digital behavior-change tool that enables individuals and organizations to participate in sustainability challenges. The core platform supports free public Global Ecochallenges (Earth Month, People's, Beyond Plastic, Drawdown) and paid Custom Solutions deployments for enterprises in three tiers (Sprout, Bloom, Forest). Adjacent offerings include Sustainability Sprints (themed 14-21 day employee challenges), Sustainability Webinars (live training sessions), and Discussion Courses (four curated discussion book titles: Choices for Sustainable Living, A Different Way, Menu for the Future, and Seeing Systems). Over 462,000 changemakers across 192 countries have participated since 1993.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• People's Ecochallenge: A month-long team sustainability challenge running October 1-31 focused on creating sustainability habits and trying new things for a better shared future.
• Earth Month Ecochallenge
• Beyond Plastic Ecochallenge
• Drawdown Ecochallenge
• Sustainability Sprints
• Discussion Books/Courses

Products and services

• Ecochallenge Platform The award-winning digital platform that enables individuals, workplaces, businesses, and communities to participate in sustainability challenges, track actions, earn points, compete on leaderboards, and contribute to collective impact dashboards in real-time.
• Sustainability Sprints Themed, time-bound employee sustainability challenges available in 14 or 21-day formats that engage workforces in curated daily and one-time sustainability actions. Offered in four themes: The Great Outdoors, Food for Good, Waste Less Wherever You Are, and Energy Shift. Priced tiered from $5,000 (under 1,000 users) to $20,000+ (5,000+ users).
• Custom Solutions Platform Tailored Ecochallenge platform deployments for organizations, available in three tiers: Sprout (entry, starting at $16.40/user), Bloom (mid-tier, starting at $19.00/user), and Forest (enterprise, starting at $28.40/user). Includes features for personalization, gamification, analytics, security, and SSO integrations (Okta, AAD, SAML).
• Sustainability Webinars and Workshops Live, expert-led sustainability training sessions for organizations, available as webinars ($1,200 per session, up to 60 min, 100 attendees) or workshops ($2,500 per session, up to 90 min, 50 attendees). Topics include Digital Clutter, What Works for sustainability action, Sustainability at Work, and custom topic offerings.
• Global Ecochallenges Free, public sustainability challenges open to anyone worldwide. Includes Earth Month Ecochallenge (April), People's Ecochallenge (October), Beyond Plastic Ecochallenge (July), and Drawdown Ecochallenge (ongoing). Typically spans 21 days to build sustainable habits.
• Choices for Sustainable Living (Discussion Book) Flagship discussion book exploring sustainability from individual, societal, and global perspectives; priced at $35 in print, ebook, and free audiobook formats.
• A Different Way: Living Simply in a Complex World (Discussion Book) Discussion book connecting individual values and actions to the larger picture of sustainability; available in print and ebook.
• Menu for the Future (Discussion Book) Discussion book exploring the connection between food and sustainability across cultural, economic, ecological, health, and social dimensions; priced at $16.
• Seeing Systems: Peace, Justice, and Sustainability (Discussion Book) Discussion book exploring the interconnections between peace, justice, and sustainability through stories and facilitation methods; priced at $16.

Quantifiable outcome

• 13,129,752 pounds of CO2 saved through platform actions
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 1% For The PlanetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcochallenge is a member of 1% For The Planet, an organization inspiring people to take responsibility for Earth. This membership demonstrates the organization's commitment to environmental giving and provides credibility as a sustainability-focused nonprofit.
• Project DrawdowncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcochallenge has partnered with Project Drawdown to work toward gender equity and women's empowerment. The Drawdown Ecochallenge provides tools and inspiration to turn intention into action around proven solutions to reverse climate change.
• United Nations Sustainable Development GoalsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcochallenge is committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a global model for change, integrating SDG framework into program design and impact measurement.
• Intertwine AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2015, Ecochallenge has participated in Intertwine Alliance's Equity and Inclusion learning communities to assess organizational equity, advance DEI language and skills, and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into organizational culture, policies, practices, and programming.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• JouleBug: JouleBug is a gamified sustainability behavior-change app enabling individuals, families, and organizations to take daily eco-actions, compete on leaderboards, and track collective impact. It directly mirrors Ecochallenge's core offering of action tracking, team challenges, and community-driven sustainability engagement.
• Earth Hero: Earth Hero is a sustainability actions app that curates eco-friendly products and tracks individual climate actions. It competes for the same individual- and SMB-adopter segments as Ecochallenge's free public challenges and Sustainability Sprints.

Broad incumbents

• Optera: Optera is a sustainability management software and consulting firm that helps enterprises build decarbonization strategies and track progress. It overlaps with Ecochallenge's corporate customer base and increasingly offers employee engagement modules as part of its broader platform.
• Salesforce Net Zero Cloud: Salesforce Net Zero Cloud is the sustainability and ESG module within the Salesforce platform, offering carbon accounting, ESG reporting, and supplier engagement. It competes for the same enterprise sustainability budgets and increasingly includes behavior-change and engagement features.
• Persefoni: Persefoni is a climate management and accounting platform that enables enterprises to measure and manage their carbon footprints. It targets the same corporate sustainability function as Ecochallenge and provides a more comprehensive, measurement-focused alternative for ESG teams.
• South Pole Group: South Pole is a global climate solutions provider offering carbon credit development, advisory, and sustainability services to enterprises and governments. It competes for corporate sustainability budgets and overlaps with Ecochallenge on employee sustainability engagement programs.
• Workiva: Workiva is a cloud platform for ESG reporting, financial reporting, and compliance that serves many of the same enterprise sustainability and audit teams as Ecochallenge's corporate customers. It represents a broader incumbent in the corporate sustainability disclosure ecosystem.
• Watershed: Watershed is an enterprise sustainability platform that helps companies measure, report, and reduce emissions across their value chain. It serves the same enterprise ESG buyers as Ecochallenge and is increasingly bundling employee engagement features, creating overlap with Ecochallenge's enterprise offering.

Emerging players

• Climate Neutral: Climate Neutral is a nonprofit certification organization that helps brands measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions. It operates in the same nonprofit sustainability space as Ecochallenge and shares overlapping mission-driven enterprise and consumer audiences.

Others

• Patch: Patch is a carbon credit marketplace and API infrastructure provider that enables businesses and applications to embed carbon offsetting. It serves an adjacent role to Ecochallenge in the sustainability ecosystem, providing infrastructure for the same corporate ESG buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ecochallengeorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/Ecochallengeorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ecochallengeorg

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Ecochallenge