ActionStation

What ActionStation does

ActionStation (legal entity: ActionStation Aotearoa) is a community campaigning non-profit founded in July 2014 and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand. It mobilises a community of more than 600,000 members to run advocacy campaigns across social justice, climate, te Tiriti o Waitangi, and economic equity issues. Core products include the OurActionStation platform (a community campaign tool built on ControlShift), the ActionStation Institute research arm, the Activators recurring donor program, and issue-specific coalitions such as Together for Te Tiriti, Dental for All, and Climate Liberation Aotearoa. The organisation runs small-team operations with approximately 15 staff and a volunteer board.

ActionStation's business model is a non-profit funding model rather than a commercial revenue model. It is funded by individual donations (including recurring "Activators" commitments), one-off contributions, and grants from philanthropic foundations, with an explicit refusal of government funding and lottery grants. Cumulative impact metrics suggest a high-volume, low-friction engagement model: 1.5M petition signatures, 20K parliamentary submissions, 50K messages to decision-makers, and 900K+ actions of support across 1,300+ campaigns. The platform architecture is lightweight: campaigns, petitions, and submissions are hosted on ControlShift, with content and research published directly through the organisation's website. The primary "customers" are individual supporters and coalition partners, not paying clients; the revenue mechanism is donor retention and grant fundraising rather than per-unit pricing.

Name

ActionStation

Legal name

ActionStation Aotearoa

Website

https://actionstation.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ActionStation Aotearoa is a Wellington-based non-profit founded in 2014 that mobilises a 600,000+ member community to campaign on social justice, climate, te Tiriti, and equity issues in New Zealand, funded by individual donations and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Non-profit Advocacy and Civic Engagement

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Political/GOTV & Advocacy Calling (Campaigns) (BPAAADAK)

Keywords

• Community campaigning platform
• Digital petition tools
• Grassroots organizing
• Online advocacy platform
• Civic engagement technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations - Recurring (Activators): Monthly recurring donations from Activators - regular supporters who provide ongoing financial support. Described as the 'heart of the movement' and funding source for keeping operations running. The organization explicitly states they don't receive government funding or lottery grants, relying entirely on individual donations and grants.
2. Individual Donations - One-time: One-time donations accepted via secure form or bank transfer. Donors can contribute to specific campaigns or general organizational work.
3. Grants: Grants from foundations and organizations that support progressive campaigning and social change in Aotearoa New Zealand. The organization maintains independence by not accepting government funding.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ActionStation Aotearoa is a non-profit community campaigning organization that operates the OurActionStation digital platform, enabling community members to start petitions, collect signatures, organize events, and engage supporters via email. It coordinates large-scale coordinated advocacy campaigns on Te Tiriti justice, climate justice, welfare reform, and public health, and is funded through individual donations and grants.

Product overview

ActionStation is a progressive, people-powered community campaigning organization in Aotearoa New Zealand. Its primary offerings include ActionStation (the main organization/brand), OurActionStation (a community campaign platform enabling petitions, events, and supporter engagement), and various campaign initiatives like Together for Te Tiriti, Dental for All, and Fairer Future. The organization also provides interactive tools like Pick a Path, maintains a publications library of research reports, and operates the ActionStation Activators membership program for regular donors. The platform is built around community organizing for social justice, climate action, and constitutional transformation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Together for Te Tiriti: A campaign movement bringing people together to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and protect it from policies that harm the relationship between Māori and the Crown.
• OurActionStation

Products and services

• OurActionStation A community campaign platform that enables everyday New Zealanders to start petitions, collect signatures online and in person, engage supporters via email, organize events, and build campaigns on issues they care about. The platform is free for campaign creators and hosts over 1,000 active community-led campaigns.
• Pick a Path An interactive educational tool that helps users understand the tough choices faced by low-income Kiwi families, featuring the story of Liz and Sam's family to illustrate the real-world impacts of policy decisions on whānau.

Quantifiable outcome

• Protected Ihumātao sacred land - Crown agreed to acquire land and activate process with mana whenua
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fairer Future CollaborationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration of 70+ organizations working to secure income support increases and welfare reform. Led to the biggest benefit increase in a generation in Budget 2021. The collaboration published the 'Seven Steps for a Fairer Future' action plan endorsed by 40 organizations.
• Public Housing FuturescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to campaign for public housing. Aims to build pressure for significant government investment in building, buying, and acquiring public homes.
• Together for Te Tiriti MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition movement bringing together thousands of people in solidarity to honor Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Responds to threats to the Treaty and works to keep the country 'moving forward for an Aotearoa we can all be proud of.'
• Dental for All CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed by ActionStation campaigners, focused on amplifying the growing call for free, universal, Te Tiriti-consistent oral healthcare in the public health system. Has published multiple research reports including 'I Didn't Want to Smile' and 'Tooth be told'.
• Climate Liberation AotearoaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in fast-track legislation opposition campaigns. Climate-focused coalition working to protect environment from extractive industries.
• Aotearoa for PalestineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition for Palestinian solidarity working on campaigns including sanctions on Israel. Platform for collective advocacy on international human rights issues.
• National Iwi Chairs ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey partner in campaigns related to Māori rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Works on protecting Treaty in education, marine and coastal area rights, and other indigenous rights issues.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Action Canada: Canadian progressive citizen engagement organization running campaigns on democracy, climate, and social justice. Closely mirrors ActionStation's community-led, multi-issue, non-partisan advocacy model.
• Avaaz: Global citizen advocacy organization running petitions, email campaigns, and rapid-response mobilization on progressive issues. Comparable digital-first, donor-funded community campaigning model with similar issue breadth (climate, human rights, democracy).
• Change.org: Global petition and digital campaigning platform. Direct competitor in the online petition and community organizing tooling space; ActionStation's OurActionStation (ControlShift) provides a similar but more curated, NZ-focused alternative.
• 38 Degrees (UK): Independent UK campaigning organization with ~1M members that runs petitions, drives parliamentary engagement, and coordinates grassroots action on progressive causes. Highly comparable member-funded, non-party-affiliated advocacy model.
• GetUp! Australia: Australia's largest progressive independent campaigning organization. Directly comparable mission: mobilizing everyday citizens on climate, social justice, and human rights through digital organizing, petitions, and grassroots action — a near-identical operating model to ActionStation in a larger market.

Emerging players

• RockEnrol: Youth-focused civic engagement and voter mobilization nonprofits (Rock the Vote / RockEnrol). Comparable in combining civic engagement, petition, and registration tools with a digital-first grassroots community model.

Broad incumbents

• Amnesty International New Zealand: NZ affiliate of global human rights organization running advocacy campaigns on human rights, Indigenous rights, and civil liberties. Shares ActionStation's petition and supporter mobilization methods and overlaps on Te Tiriti and human rights issues.
• Greenpeace Aotearoa: Established NZ environmental advocacy organization with significant fundraising infrastructure and large supporter base. Overlaps with ActionStation on climate, but with a single-issue focus and broader international parent organization.

Others

• Te Whatu Ora / Health Coalition Aotearoa: NZ public health advocacy coalition. Comparable coalition-campaigning model to ActionStation's Dental for All and Fairer Future movements, focused on policy advocacy through coordinated member organizations.
• ControlShift: Software vendor whose platform underlies OurActionStation and analogous campaigns globally. Technology enabler / supplier rather than a competitor; relevant for understanding ActionStation's platform economics and scaling constraints.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ActionStationNZ
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PL89Uan1OFN_xsK2DZ4z4SjQa99U-fqKRr
• Facebookfacebook.com/ActionStationNZ
• Instagraminstagram.com/actionstationnz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/actionstation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 ActionStation