Crisis Commons
CrisisCommons is a volunteer-driven nonprofit civic tech community connecting technology volunteers with crisis management practitioners worldwide through CrisisCamp events, a podcast, and operational coordination frameworks.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Crisis Commons does
CrisisCommons is a volunteer-driven civic technology nonprofit founded in March 2009 that connects crisis management and global development practitioners with a global network of technology volunteers. Its core "product" surface consists of the CrisisCamp event framework (barcamp-like gatherings held in more than 30 cities across 10 countries), the Crisis Dispatch podcast, a Discord community, and a small library of operational guidelines, including the 2024 drone-in-disaster-zone guidance co-developed with the Bainbridge Island AirOps team. The organization has historically coordinated volunteer support for major incidents including the Haiti, Chile, and Japan earthquakes; floods in Thailand, Nashville, and Pakistan; and wildland fire responses alongside FEMA, the National Incident Management Organizations (NIMO), and the US Forest Service.
The underlying technology is open and community-built rather than commercial: open-source tools developed in CrisisCamps, the Social Media for Emergency Management (#SMEM) resource library, and the Virtual Operations Support Team (VOST) model with Incident Command System (ICS) integration for virtual coordination with FEMA. There is no proprietary SaaS platform, no API, no SDK, no app, and no disclosed certifications. The organization is led by a small "Lead" team (Pascal Schuback is the named coordinator) with an 11-50 employee band, and the leadership detail characterizes the team as rebuilding momentum after a prior period of dormancy.
The business model is non-commercial: participation in CrisisCommons events, Discord discussions, and Crisis Dispatch is free, and the organization operates on volunteer contributions rather than paid pricing tiers, contracts, or disclosed external funding. In August 2025, CrisisCommons announced a team-level integration with Humanitarian ToolBox (HTBox) to combine missions, merge content, and consolidate the community-buildout effort. As such, CrisisCommons is best understood as a community and standards-setting layer for humanitarian technology rather than a commercial software vendor.
Crisis Commons firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Crisis Commons
- Legal name
- CrisisCommons
- Website
- https://crisiscommons.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- CrisisCommons is a volunteer-driven nonprofit civic tech community connecting technology volunteers with crisis management practitioners worldwide through CrisisCamp events, a podcast, and operational coordination frameworks.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Crisis Commons industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Crisis Response and Emergency Management Community Organization
- NAICS
- Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Disaster Recovery, Reconstruction & Resilience Programs (BPAGAAAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Disaster Relief & Humanitarian Aid Volunteering (EDAIAGAF), Crisis Management & Communications Support (Mass Notification) (BPABANAF), Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)
Keywords
Where Crisis Commons is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Crisis Commons business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Volunteer/Donation-based: CrisisCommons operates as a volunteer-driven non-profit organization. The organization coordinates crisis responses through volunteer participation and community contributions rather than commercial revenue streams. No explicit funding model or revenue generation activities were disclosed.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free community participation |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Crisis Commons product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Crisis Commons is a volunteer-run community organization that convenes crisis management, humanitarian, and global development practitioners with technology volunteers through structured events, an online discussion community, and informational content. Its named programs include the CrisisCamp event series, the Crisis Dispatch podcast, and a Discord-based practitioner community, supplemented by published methodologies such as the VOST operating model and drone operations guidelines used in disaster response contexts.
Product overview
CrisisCommons is a volunteer-driven humanitarian technology community organization (not a commercial software product) that offers CrisisCamp as its primary event-based program for connecting technical volunteers with crisis responders, and Crisis Dispatch as a podcast for sharing best practices across technology and disaster response. The organization facilitates coordination of people, tools, and resources for crisis response through community events, online discussion platforms, and informational content.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CrisisCamp: A barcamp-like event connecting a global and local network of volunteers who use creative problem solving and open technologies to help people and communities in times and places of crisis.
- Crisis Dispatch
Products and services
- CrisisCamp Volunteer-led event program convening crisis management and humanitarian practitioners with technology volunteers to collaborate on tools and approaches for crisis response; open to global participation across more than 30 cities in 10 countries.
- Crisis Dispatch Podcast produced by CrisisCommons covering crisis response, emergency management, and humanitarian technology topics for the practitioner and volunteer community.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 3,000 people have participated worldwide in CrisisCommons activities
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Crisis Commons
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Crisis Commons technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Crisis Commons partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Humanitarian ToolBox (HTBox)coreCrisisCommons welcomed the HTBox team to combine missions and efforts in connecting people, tools and resources to support crisis response. The partnership involves merging content and building out the community in service.
- FEMAcoreVOST (Virtual Operations Support Team) model developed with ICS integration with FEMA for emergency response coordination.
- National Incident Management Organizations (NIMO) and US Forest ServicecoreCrisisCommons supported national and local wildland fire responses with NIMO and US Forest Service, developing response coordination frameworks.
- Bainbridge Prepares TechOpsminorCollaboration with Bainbridge Prepares TechOps for developing drone operations guidelines and flight operations manual for disaster zone use.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Crisis Commons competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Crisis Text Line: Technology-enabled crisis response organization that mobilizes trained volunteers to deliver support during emergencies, paralleling CrisisCommons' volunteer-coordination model in a different crisis modality.
- Mapbox Disaster Response / HOT OSM: Provides geospatial and mapping tools commonly used in disaster response by volunteer communities, sharing CrisisCommons' overlap with the humanitarian mapping ecosystem.
- Humanitarian Toolbox: Open-source software project that develops tools for humanitarian responders; recently merged with CrisisCommons, making it a near-perfect operational peer in the same ecosystem.
Direct peers
- NetHope: Consortium of humanitarian NGOs that collaborates on technology solutions for crisis response, sharing CrisisCommons' focus on connecting technologists with disaster-response practitioners.
- Ushahidi: Open-source crisis-mapping and data-collection platform built on volunteer contributions, serving humanitarian and civic-tech use cases similar to CrisisCommons' tool development for emergency response.
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT): Volunteer-driven, open-source mapping community that mobilizes thousands of contributors to support humanitarian response and disaster preparedness—directly comparable to CrisisCommons' model of organizing skilled technical volunteers for crisis response.
Broad incumbents
- Direct Relief: Large humanitarian aid organization focused on emergency response and disaster recovery, providing a well-funded institutional parallel to CrisisCommons' disaster-relief volunteer efforts.
- UN OCHA (Centre for Humanitarian Data): United Nations agency coordinating humanitarian emergency response and stewarding shared data and tools, comparable in mission scope and overlap with CrisisCommons' coordination work.
- American Red Cross: Large, established humanitarian organization with disaster response programs, volunteer networks, and government partnerships that overlap substantially with CrisisCommons' mission and constituency.
Others
- Zooniverse: Largest online platform for volunteer-powered problem solving across research domains; comparable in its volunteer-coordination model, though not specifically focused on crisis response.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Crisis Commons social profiles
Digital presenceCrisis Commons financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Crisis Commons leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Crisis Commons funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Crisis Commons M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Crisis Commons
What does Crisis Commons do?
Crisis Commons is a volunteer-run community organization that convenes crisis management, humanitarian, and global development practitioners with technology volunteers through structured events, an online discussion community, and informational content. Its named programs include the CrisisCamp event series, the Crisis Dispatch podcast, and a Discord-based practitioner community, supplemented by published methodologies such as the VOST operating model and drone operations guidelines used in disaster response contexts.
Is Crisis Commons a public or private company?
Crisis Commons is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Crisis Commons founded?
Crisis Commons was founded in 2009. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Crisis Commons based?
Crisis Commons is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Crisis Commons make money?
One revenue line is on record: volunteer/Donation-based.
Who are Crisis Commons's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Crisis Text Line, Mapbox Disaster Response / HOT OSM and Humanitarian Toolbox. Direct peers are NetHope, Ushahidi and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). Broad incumbents are Direct Relief, UN OCHA (Centre for Humanitarian Data) and American Red Cross. Zooniverse is listed as an others.
Does Crisis Commons have an API?
No public API is recorded for Crisis Commons.
What industry is Crisis Commons in?
Crisis Commons's product category is Crisis Response and Emergency Management Community Organization. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAAAK, Disaster Recovery, Reconstruction & Resilience Programs, with a secondary code of EDAIAGAF, Disaster Relief & Humanitarian Aid Volunteering. Its NAICS code is 62423 and its SIC code is 8300.