What Common Knowledge does

Common Knowledge is a not-for-profit worker cooperative, founded in October 2018 and registered in England and Wales (company no. 11620742), that designs and builds digital tools and strategies for social movements. Its seven-member team is distributed across London, Glasgow, Sweden, and Spain, with roots in commercial tech startups and progressive political organising. The cooperative serves grassroots organisations, unions, campaign groups, NGOs, and movement infrastructure organisations in the UK, Europe, the US, and Australia — customer logos include 350.org, Progressive International, Green New Deal Rising, NEON, Labour Together, the Green Party, GMB Union, Tipping Point UK, and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.

The cooperative's core technology platform is Mapped, a visual mapping tool built on top of mySociety's Local Intelligence Hub that integrates with third-party CRMs (Action Network, Airtable, Google Sheets, Mailchimp, with NationBuilder and Baserow planned) to render membership data as interactive geographic maps layered with electoral, demographic, and constituency boundary data. Adjacent tools include StrikeMap (industrial action mapping), Join Flow (membership onboarding and recurring dues plugin), People (canvassing app co-developed with The Social Practice), and Groundwork (an open-source Django/JS framework). All software is released under open-source licences. The technology stack is primarily Python/Django and JavaScript/TypeScript (NextJS).

Common Knowledge operates a hybrid revenue model with approximately 80% of income from consultancy services (digital design, development, and strategic advisory) and approximately 20% from grants and small donations from trusts including Civic Power Fund, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, National Lottery, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Multitudes Foundation, and the Open Collective supporters network. The 2025 unrestricted funding target is £200,000. Mapped is offered free to small grassroots groups under a "movement commons" model where better-resourced organisations contribute financially, commission custom features (which are integrated back into the platform), or pay for enterprise-tier technical requirements. The cooperative is explicitly anti-venture-capital and uses no traditional sales motion — customer acquisition is via movement network relationships, conference presence, and collaborative co-design.

Name

Common Knowledge

Legal name

Common Knowledge

Website

https://commonknowledge.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Common Knowledge is a UK-based not-for-profit worker cooperative that designs digital tools (notably Mapped) and provides consultancy for social movements, grassroots organisations, and progressive nonprofits worldwide, with 80% of income from consultancy and 20% from grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology and Movement Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Knowledge Management & Wikis (BPAMAMAH)

Keywords

• Movement technology services
• Grassroots organising software
• Civic data visualisation
• Nonprofit technology consulting
• Campaign digital tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Whitechapel

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Consultancy services: Approximately 80% of Common Knowledge's income comes from consultancy work — digital design, development, and strategic advisory services delivered to grassroots organisations, campaign groups, and movement infrastructure organisations.
2. Grants and donations: The remaining approximately 20% of income comes from grants (from trusts such as Civic Power Fund, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, National Lottery, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Multitudes Foundation, Lipman-Miliband Trust, Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust) and small donations via their Open Collective supporters network.
3. Open source / movement commons model (Mapped): Mapped is free for small grassroots groups; organisations can opt to contribute financially, commission custom features (integrated into the platform for all), or pay an ongoing subscription for enterprise-tier technical requirements. No venture capital SaaS model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Common Knowledge is a not-for-profit worker cooperative that designs, develops, and maintains open-source digital tools, websites, and training programmes for grassroots organising and social movements. Approximately 80% of revenue comes from consultancy and bespoke design/development work, while the remaining 20% comes from grants, donations, and optional contributions to Mapped, its CRM-integrated membership mapping platform.

Product overview

Common Knowledge is a not-for-profit worker cooperative that offers a portfolio of digital products and training services for social movements. Their flagship product is Mapped, a visual mapping platform that integrates with CRMs (Action Network, Airtable, Google Sheets, Mailchimp) to help organisers visualise membership data on interactive maps and coordinate strategic action. They also offer tools including StrikeMap (industrial action mapping), Join Flow (membership onboarding plugin), People (canvassing app), and the emerging Movement Data Library. Their training offerings span digital security, digital organising, mapping workshops, WordPress, WhatsApp usage, and Action Network training. Everything is released under open source license, with Mapped planned as a platform cooperative owned by movement actors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mapped: A digital platform made by and for organisers that turns static membership lists into live, shared maps to help see where people are, plan strategically and take collective action. Built specifically for grassroots organising with focus on collaboration across movement causes.

Products and services

• Mapped A digital platform that integrates with CRMs (Action Network, Airtable, Google Sheets, Mailchimp) to visualise membership data on interactive maps, allowing organisers to overlay demographic, geographic, electoral, and campaign data; identify gaps and strongholds; and coordinate collective action across campaigns. Free for small grassroots groups; enterprise-tier subscriptions available for deeper integrations.
• StrikeMap A worker-powered mapping tool that maps industrial action taking place across the world, enabling the public to find and connect with their nearest picket line by entering a postcode.
• Join Flow A plugin that enables people to easily join political organisations as members and set up recurring dues, helping organisations grow their membership base and improve financial sustainability.
• People (Canvassing App) A canvassing app with three canvassing modes and a flexible approach to data management, allowing volunteers to store responses from interactions. Co-developed with The Social Practice.
• Movement Data Library A collectively governed ecosystem of tools, platforms, and groups enabling radical mass-scale organising data, allowing organisers, researchers, and volunteers to upload, process, explore, share, and publish datasets. Integrated with Mapped.
• Groundwork An integrated and opinionated collection of Django applications and JavaScript components that helps build software for organising and campaigning — a reusable toolkit for rapid development of movement technology.
• Digital Security Training Weekly online and in-person security trainings for climate activists and grassroots organisations covering threat modelling, digital security practices, and political security. Originally co-developed with Tipping Point UK.
• Digital Organising 101 Introduction to digital organising training covering relational power building, base building, data best practices, and accessibility. Co-delivered with Act Build Change.
• Mapping for Organisers Training teaching visual mapping methods including power-mapping, distributed campaign mapping, wallcharting, workers inquiry, and threat modelling for strategic decision-making.
• Design Sprints for Organisers Design sprint training for organisations to rapidly prototype and solve problems, delivered with Co-ops UK.
• Introduction to Sociocracy Training on sociocracy as a method for organising collaboratively and horizontally.
• WordPress for Organisers Training on using WordPress effectively, including Gutenberg, full site editing, plugins for donations and forms, and integration with Action Network and Mailchimp.
• Action Network for Organisers Training on using Action Network for campaigns including building databases, segmenting supporters, email/text campaigns, event management, fundraising, and integrations.
• Common Knowledge Digital Consultancy Bespoke digital design, development, and strategic advisory services for grassroots organisations, campaign groups, and movement infrastructure organisations. Approximately 80% of cooperative income. Includes visual identity, websites, migration projects, and strategic reviews.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of climate activists trained in digital security via weekly sessions with Tipping Point UK (2024–2025).
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers34 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Zetkin FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Ongoing strategic collaboration with the Swedish Zetkin Foundation on their core CRM for organising activism. Common Knowledge builds bridges between Zetkin and other platforms (Mapped), has worked with Zetkin and UVW to add casework functionality, and team members sometimes work on secondment with Zetkin. Currently working on data integration tooling for Zetkin's CRM. Zetkin is rolled out to the climate movement by Tipping Point UK's digital hub.
• The Social PracticesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developed the People canvassing app with The Social Practice, which has three canvassing modes and a flexible approach to data management for volunteers.
• Tipping Point UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTipping Point UK's digital hub uses Zetkin and collaborates with Common Knowledge on new mapping tools via Mapped and digital security training. Weekly online security trainings for hundreds of climate activists delivered in 2024–2025. Collaborated on co-design of Mapped features.
• Act Build ChangesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration on training — co-delivered Digital Organising 101 course and mapping workshops at the New Organising Conference and Organize! Malmö. Edi Whitehead, digital organiser at Act Build Change, co-facilitated the eight-session training cohort.
• mySociety / Local Intelligence HubsupportingTechnology or IntegrationMapped is built on top of mySociety's Local Intelligence Hub, which itself is an output of The Climate Coalition. Common Knowledge actively looks to build upon existing software before building something new.
• Natasha Adams / Thinking Doing ChangingsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned research into strategic uses of geographic mapping in UK movements — qualitative interviews with 12 organisers across climate, worker, and migrant justice movements. Part of the 'Mapping in Movements' research project informing Mapped's development.
• Civic Power FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded Mapped's development. Co-facilitating the London Infrastructure Assembly in May 2025 with 92 organisations invited. Common Knowledge is part of the Civic Power Fund ecosystem and collaborates on movement infrastructure strategy.
• LUSHsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-facilitating the London Infrastructure Assembly in May 2025 alongside Civic Power Fund and Common Knowledge.
• CoTech (Network of Cooperative Tech Organisations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of CoTech — a network of technology worker cooperatives. Listed members include Code-Operative, Agile Collective, Outlandish, Jarrow Insights, Good Praxis, Founders and Coders, The Developers Society, Yalla, Animorph, and We Are Open. Common Knowledge participates in knowledge-sharing, referrals, and collaborative action.
• TectonicasupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of the Tectonica tech-for-good landscape network.
• CatalystsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of Catalyst — a network supporting technology for social change.
• Power to Change Community Tech NetworksupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive member of Power to Change's Community Tech network.
• NEON (New Economy Organisers Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlex Worrad-Andrews serves on NEON's board of directors. Common Knowledge rebuilt NEON's website and visual identity. NEON is a key infrastructure organisation for UK social movements and is involved in the London Infrastructure Assembly.
• workers.coopcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGemma Copeland serves on the board of workers.coop, the member-led federation of UK worker cooperatives. Common Knowledge is a member of this federation, passing on work, sharing resources, and operating strategically together.
• Movement Research UnitsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Mapped roadmap spec and power mapping features. Co-built FutureLabourMPs.com with NEON — listing Labour parliamentary candidates and their positions on issues.
• Progressive InternationalsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommon Knowledge designed Progressive International's visual identity and multilingual website and continues to use Join Flow. Progressive International is a global network that Common Knowledge has a long-standing relationship with.
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorks in partnership with Progressive International and HOT, among other global organisations like 350.org, as part of international movement ecology.
• 350.orgsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted a Research and Discovery project in 2022 to investigate how 350.org could migrate their digital estate to WordPress Gutenberg.
• Autonomous Design GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative design partner on several projects including Green New Deal Rising identity design. Part of the movement design ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Agile Collective: UK worker cooperative providing digital services to non-profits, campaigns, and progressive organisations; CoTech member operating in the same civic-tech-for-movements niche with similar consulting-plus-platform business model.
• Founders and Coders: UK-based software training and development cooperative producing cooperative technologists and shipping mission-aligned projects; CoTech member with overlapping cooperative values and progressive client base.
• Outlandish: UK-based worker cooperative building digital products and platforms for social impact organisations; fellow CoTech member with overlapping customer base in the UK nonprofit and progressive movement ecosystem.
• Zetkin Foundation: Swedish non-profit building a CRM for movement organising; partners directly with Common Knowledge on data integration tooling, casework functionality, and has team members on secondment between the two organisations. Zetkin and Mapped serve overlapping customer bases across European progressive movements.
• Code-Operative: UK tech worker cooperative delivering software for social enterprises, charities, and trade unions; CoTech network peer with similar cooperative structure, technical service offering, and mission-aligned customer base.
• Good Praxis: UK-based cooperative technology consultancy building digital tools for social justice organisations; CoTech network member with directly comparable cooperative structure and customer profile.
• mySociety: UK civic technology charity building open-source tools that help citizens engage with democracy; Mapped is built on top of mySociety's Local Intelligence Hub, and both serve the UK civic-tech ecosystem with overlapping funder relationships.

Broad incumbents

• NationBuilder: Established commercial CRM and organising platform for political campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy organisations; broader incumbent serving similar progressive customers with overlapping CRM functionality that Mapped integrates with (planned integration).
• New/Mode: Civic engagement and advocacy technology company providing campaigns, petitions, and digital organising tools to progressive organisations; broader commercial incumbent operating in the same movement-tech category with a wider geographic footprint.

Others

• Action Network: Progressive nonprofit CRM and digital organising platform used by many of Common Knowledge's customers; Mapped integrates with Action Network rather than competing with it, making it a complementary infrastructure partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/commonknowledge
• GitHubgithub.com/commonknowledge
• Instagraminstagram.com/commonknowledge.coop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Common Knowledge