We The Action

What We The Action does

We The Action is a nonprofit volunteer-matching platform founded in 2017 that connects lawyers with nonprofit organizations requiring pro bono legal assistance. Operated as a program under Civic Nation Action, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization headquartered at 1400 L Street NW in Washington, DC, the platform facilitates legal work across 27 cause areas including immigration, voting rights and fair elections, civil rights, criminal justice, environmental issues, poverty, healthcare, and reproductive rights. The platform serves two user segments: nonprofit organizations seeking legal expertise across startup-to-mature stages, and lawyers (with varying experience and availability) seeking curated pro bono opportunities aligned with their interests and skills.

The core product is a web-based matching platform comprising a searchable Project Directory (where lawyers browse and apply to projects filtered by cause area, time commitment, expertise, and remote/on-site location) and a Nonprofit Partner Network of 800+ vetted organizations that post legal needs. Supporting infrastructure includes cause-specific sub-brand initiatives — the Democracy Legal Defense Network, Immigration Response Center, Nonprofit Legal Defense Network, and the Rare As One Network (a specialized program with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for rare disease patient organizations). The platform is self-serve with no mobile app and no public API. Since founding, the organization reports cumulative scale of 55,000+ lawyers, 90,000+ volunteer connections, 400,000+ hours of donated legal services, and $210M+ in estimated pro bono value.

The organization operates as a free platform with no fees charged to either volunteer lawyers or nonprofit partners. Funding flows through donations and charitable contributions rather than user fees, contracts, or investment capital. The team is small (11-50 employees, described as a small organizational team), with an Advisory Council drawing from legal and philanthropic leadership including the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, and Munger Tolles & Olson LLP. Distribution is direct-to-user via wetheaction.org, supplemented by email communications, earned media coverage (The New York Times, Law360, Above the Law), and partnerships with established civic coalitions such as Civic Alliance.

Name

We The Action

Legal name

Civic Nation Action

Website

https://wetheaction.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

We The Action is a nonprofit volunteer-matching platform founded in 2017 that connects 55,000+ lawyers with 800+ nonprofit organizations for pro bono legal work across cause areas including immigration, voting rights, and civil rights.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pro Bono Legal Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAEAM

Legal Aid & Client Advocacy Services

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Services & Community Support (Food, Housing, Family)

SECONDARYBPAGAFAA

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

SECONDARYBPAGAFAN

Government Accountability, Ethics & Anti-Corruption Advocacy

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

SECONDARYBPAFADAK

Nonprofit & Cause Communications

Business & Public Services/Marketing, Advertising & PR Services/Public Relations & Communications

Keywords

• Pro bono legal services
• Volunteer matching platform
• Nonprofit legal aid
• Lawyer volunteer network
• Legal services marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: We The Action is a nonprofit organization that operates through donations and charitable contributions. The Support Us page explicitly states 'Your financial investment in We The Action will go directly to expanding our growing community's impact' and features a Donate button.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

We The Action operates a free, web-based platform that connects lawyers interested in pro bono work with nonprofit organizations that need legal assistance. Nonprofits post legal projects on the platform and lawyers browse, sign up for, and complete volunteer engagements. The platform is funded entirely through charitable donations and operates as a program under Civic Nation Action.

Product overview

We The Action is a volunteer matching platform that connects lawyers with nonprofits for pro bono legal work. The core offering is the We The Action Volunteer Matching Platform, which includes a Project Directory for browsing and applying to volunteer opportunities, and the Nonprofit Partner Network of 800 organizations. Additional offerings include the Rare As One Network (a specialized sub-brand for rare disease patient organizations) and Voter Protection Program initiatives. The platform focuses on matching volunteer lawyers with cause-based organizations across areas including immigration, voting rights, civil rights, criminal justice, and more.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• We The Action Platform A free, web-based online platform that matches lawyers interested in pro bono work with nonprofit organizations that need legal assistance. Nonprofits post legal projects and lawyers browse and sign up to volunteer their time and expertise.

Quantifiable outcome

• $210M+ in volunteer legal services donated
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• Rare As One NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWe The Action partners with patient-led organizations in the Rare As One Network to provide legal support for rare disease research, regulatory compliance, clinical trials, and treatment dissemination. The initiative specifically connects lawyers with rare disease organizations working on transformative advancements in the field.
• The Leadership Conference Education FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll Voting is Local is a collaborative campaign housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in conjunction with ACLU Foundation, American Constitution Society, Campaign Legal Center, and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. We The Action provides volunteer lawyers to support their voting rights work.
• Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoot & Rebound has attorneys embedded at ARC, a community-based organization providing wraparound services to formerly incarcerated individuals. We The Action volunteers support their work on record clearing and reentry legal barriers.
• Civic AllianceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPower the Polls is a nonpartisan coalition bringing together nonprofits and businesses including Civic Alliance, Comedy Central, Pizza to the Polls, and MTV to recruit the next generation of poll workers.
• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)minorOthersPartner through Root & Rebound's Ventura Training Center program for firefighter training and certification for formerly incarcerated individuals who served in California fire camps.
• Immigration Justice Campaign (IJC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIJC provides mentorship and supervision for We The Action volunteers working on immigration detention cases, particularly bond proceedings and asylum preparation.
• The Carter CentersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Carter Center provided training for volunteer observers monitoring the Risk Limiting Audit in Georgia, demonstrating partnerships with respected election integrity organizations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PSLawNet: PSLawNet is a public service law job and volunteer board used by law students and lawyers to find public interest opportunities. While more focused on job placement than volunteer matching, it serves a substantially overlapping audience and competes for the same lawyer-side attention.
• Taproot Foundation: Taproot Foundation runs a similar pro bono matching model connecting skilled professionals (including lawyers) with nonprofits. While broader than legal-only, its service-based volunteer infrastructure and nonprofit focus are directly comparable, and it is the closest multi-discipline analog to We The Action.
• Catchafire: Catchafire is a skills-based volunteer matching platform connecting professionals (including lawyers) with nonprofits for project-based engagements. Its marketplace mechanics, project scoping, and nonprofit focus closely mirror We The Action's operating model.
• Equal Justice Works: Equal Justice Works is a major nonprofit focused on public interest law and legal aid, including fellowship programs and pro bono mobilization. It targets the same lawyer demographic interested in public service and operates similar cause-aligned programs.
• VolunteerMatch: VolunteerMatch operates the largest online volunteer engagement platform in the U.S., connecting volunteers with nonprofits across cause areas. We The Action is essentially a specialized vertical of this model focused exclusively on legal volunteers and skilled pro bono work.
• Pro Bono Net: Pro Bono Net is the most direct peer—also a nonprofit that builds technology platforms connecting volunteer lawyers with legal aid organizations and pro bono opportunities nationally. Its platforms include LawHelp.org for self-represented litigants and probono.net for lawyer volunteer matching, serving a near-identical audience with similar cause-area coverage.

Emerging players

• ABA Free Legal Answers: ABA Free Legal Answers is an American Bar Association platform allowing lawyers to provide free legal advice to low-income users. While more transactional and client-facing (rather than nonprofit-facing), it represents the ABA's institutional attempt at the same pro bono matching concept We The Action executes for nonprofits.
• Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI): PILI is a Chicago-based legal aid organization that connects lawyers with public interest opportunities through fellowship, internship, and pro bono programs. It serves a similar lawyer audience interested in public interest work and is comparable as a regional pro bono matching entity.

Broad incumbents

• Idealist: Idealist is the established incumbent for nonprofit and volunteer opportunity listings across all cause areas. While not legal-specific, it competes for the same volunteer mindshare and is a broader incumbent in the space where We The Action operates as a specialized vertical.

Others

• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights is both a partner of We The Action (in the Leadership Conference coalition) and a peer organization mobilizing volunteer lawyers for civil rights causes. It is comparable as a cause-aligned legal mobilization entity, though it operates primarily through direct legal services rather than a marketplace model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WeTheAction

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 We The Action