What Ohioans does

Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) is a single-issue nonprofit advocacy organization headquartered at 341 S 3rd St Suite 11, Columbus, Ohio, focused exclusively on abolishing the state's capital punishment system. Founded in 2013 (per the organization's history; firmographic records indicate 1988 — the 2013 date aligns with the start of the documented annual report series and the launch of the modern campaign), OTSE is the lead organization in the #NoDeathPenaltyOH campaign and describes itself as the only single-issue death penalty repeal organization in Ohio. The organization operates with 1-10 employees under Executive Director Kevin Werner and conducts advocacy through research publications, faith leader mobilization, petitions, sign-on letters, and press events.

OTSE's core deliverables are research reports, coalition infrastructure, and direct advocacy campaigns. Its flagship research product is the March 2026 report 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Confronting the Wrongful Conviction Crisis in the State of Ohio,' which documents 12 death row exonerations in Ohio, a 20% error rate relative to 56 executions, official misconduct in 11 of 12 exonerations, racial disparities (Black Ohioans comprise 55% of death row versus 13% of the state population), and 12 'shadow exonerations.' Distribution channels include the otse.org WordPress site, a co-branded nodeathpenaltyoh.com campaign hub, ActionNetwork petitions, social media (Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube), and a faith leader initiative covering 15+ denominations. There is no proprietary technology platform, no mobile app, and no AI/ML components documented in the source data.

The business model is donation-based nonprofit funding with no disclosed earned revenue, foundation grants, or government contracts. Revenue is solicited through the otse.org donate page and grassroots campaigns, with no publicly disclosed financials. The customer base is a coalition of individual Ohioans opposed to the death penalty, 500+ faith leaders, exonerated individuals such as Elwood Jones, and victim family members. OTSE's recent measurable outcomes include Governor Mike DeWine's June 2026 public statement opposing the death penalty after years of OTSE advocacy and a 2025 environment of zero new death sentences in Ohio.

Name

Ohioans

Legal name

Ohioans to Stop Executions

Website

https://otse.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ohioans to Stop Executions is a Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit advocacy organization that leads the #NoDeathPenaltyOH campaign, conducting research, faith leader mobilization, and direct lobbying to abolish the state's capital punishment system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations: OTSE accepts donations through its website to support advocacy campaigns and organizational operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) is a single-issue nonprofit advocacy organization that campaigns for the abolition of Ohio's capital punishment system. It leads the #NoDeathPenaltyOhio coalition, mobilizes grassroots supporters and faith leaders, conducts research and publishes reports on wrongful convictions, and operates online petition drives targeting state lawmakers and the Governor. The organization is funded primarily through donations.

Product overview

Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE) is a single-issue death penalty repeal organization in Ohio that represents millions of Ohioans who oppose the death penalty. OTSE is the lead organization in the #NoDeathPenaltyOhio campaign to abolish Ohio's capital punishment system. The organization operates primarily through advocacy, coalition building, public education campaigns, petition drives (via ActionNetwork), and the release of research reports documenting issues with Ohio's death penalty system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• #NoDeathPenaltyOhio: Campaign to abolish Ohio's capital punishment system

Products and services

• #NoDeathPenaltyOhio Campaign
• Beyond Reasonable Doubt Report
• Faith Leader Initiative
• OTSE Online Petitions
• OTSE Membership / Supporter Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Governor DeWine expressed opposition to death penalty after years of OTSE advocacy
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• #NoDeathPenaltyOH CampaigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOTSE leads the #NoDeathPenaltyOH campaign, a coalition initiative to abolish Ohio's capital punishment system.
• Abolition OrganizationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOTSE maintains a list of partner abolition organizations for collaborative advocacy efforts.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Others

• Ohio Public Defender: State agency providing legal representation in capital cases. Adjacent peer — not an advocacy organization, but a key institutional stakeholder whose work intersects with OTSE's mission on wrongful convictions and death-row representation.

Direct peers

• Reprieve US: International human-rights charity that works on death-penalty cases and policy. Directly comparable as a death-penalty-focused advocacy and legal-intervention nonprofit, though with a global rather than Ohio-specific remit.
• Equal Justice USA: National nonprofit working to end the death penalty and reform the criminal justice system. Closest direct peer in advocacy model and target policy outcomes, with a broader national scope than OTSE.
• Innocence Project: National nonprofit focused on exonerating wrongfully convicted people. Directly comparable given OTSE's exoneration advocacy (e.g., the Elwood Jones case) and the innocence-claims narrative central to its research.
• Death Penalty Information Center: National nonprofit that produces research, reports, and data on the U.S. death penalty — directly comparable to OTSE in mission and methodology, especially given OTSE's 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' report.

Broad incumbents

• Amnesty International USA: Largest global human-rights organization with an active U.S. death-penalty abolition program. Comparable as a nonprofit advocacy peer, though OTSE is single-issue/Ohio-focused while Amnesty operates across many issues and geographies.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Large nonprofit that litigates and advocates on justice issues including criminal-justice reform. Comparable as a high-impact advocacy nonprofit with strong research output, though its scope is far broader than OTSE's single-issue focus.
• ACLU of Ohio: State-level affiliate of the ACLU that litigates and lobbies on criminal-justice issues including capital punishment. Comparable as an Ohio-focused advocacy nonprofit, though it operates across a much broader civil-rights agenda.
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL): National membership and advocacy organization for criminal-defense lawyers, including significant capital-defense work. Comparable as a criminal-justice advocacy nonprofit, though its audience is defense attorneys rather than the general public.

Regional players

• Ohio Justice & Policy Center: Ohio-based nonprofit that advocates for criminal-justice reform. Directly comparable as a state-level Ohio advocacy peer focused on justice reform, though it covers a broader portfolio than OTSE's death-penalty-only mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OhStopExecution
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@OtseOrg
• Facebookfacebook.com/ohioanstostopexecutions
• Instagraminstagram.com/ohioans2stopexecutions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Ohioans