People's Action

What People's Action does

People's Action is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit national network of 40 state and local grassroots power-building organizations operating across 29 states, formed in 2016 when nine grassroots organizing networks merged. The organization builds political and economic power for poor and working people in urban, rural, and suburban areas through a combination of issue campaigns (housing justice, health care for all, climate justice, and federal funds accountability), electoral organizing through its Movement Politics program (People's Platform, People's Slate, People's Pledge), and direct action via the People's Action Institute sub-brand. The organization reports over one million members, tens of thousands of volunteers, more than 350 movement candidates elected since 2016, and 25 million+ voter contacts during the 2020 cycle.

The organization's core operational infrastructure is the Organizing Revival program, which includes training through the Ella Baker School for Organizing and deep canvassing tools, plus the affiliated OurFuture.org news platform. Technology use is limited to standard advocacy and organizing SaaS platforms — ActionNetwork for petitions and email, Mobilize for events, and DonorSupport for online fundraising — and the source material explicitly identifies the organization as "not a technology company." Products and services are framed as advocacy campaigns, training programs, and electoral endorsements rather than as commercial offerings.

Revenue is generated exclusively through individual donations solicited via the website, ActBlue, and DonorSupport. The organization is headquartered at 1825 K Street NW, Suite 400, Washington DC (with operations in Chicago, Illinois), employs 51-100 staff, and is led by Executive Director Sulma Arias (since 2024), succeeding former co-directors LeeAnn Hall and George Goehl. No financial disclosures, audited financials, or IRS Form 990 data are present in the source material.

Name

People's Action

Legal name

People's Action

Website

https://peoplesaction.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

People's Action is a 501(c)(4) national network of 40 state and local grassroots organizations across 29 states that builds political power for poor and working people through issue campaigns, electoral organizing, and direct action, funded by individual donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grassroots Organizing and Advocacy

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Political Organizations (813940), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Political/GOTV & Advocacy Calling (Campaigns) (BPAAADAK), Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK), Civic Participation & Leadership Development (Voting, Advocacy, Community Leadership) (EDAAADAL)

Keywords

• Grassroots organizing
• Community organizing
• Advocacy campaigns
• Electoral organizing
• Social justice advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago, Illinois

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: People's Action raises funds through individual donations, primarily via online platforms like ActBlue and DonorSupport. The organization is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that relies on contributions from supporters to fund its organizing activities, campaigns, and advocacy work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

People's Action is a national network of grassroots power-building organizations that recruits, trains, and mobilizes over one million members across 29 states to win change through issue campaigns and elections. The organization operates advocacy campaigns on healthcare, housing, climate, and federal funding, runs the Movement Politics electoral program, and provides organizing infrastructure (Organizing Revival, training, deep canvassing) to member groups. It is funded primarily through individual donations and operates as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit.

Product overview

People's Action is a national network of grassroots power-building organizations (not a technology company). The organization operates as a platform of interconnected advocacy campaigns and programs: the core Organizing Revival program provides training and infrastructure for community organizing, while specialized campaigns (Health Care for All, Housing Justice, People & Planet First, Leveraging Federal Funds) address specific policy issues. The Movement Politics program supports electoral candidates through the People's Platform, People's Pledge, and People's Slate. The Care Over Cost campaign fights health insurance denials, and People's Action Institute organizes direct actions and corporate accountability campaigns. Member organizations across 29 states implement these programs locally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• People's Action Institute: A division of People's Action that organizes protests and advocacy efforts, including the Take Back Our Money Tour and direct actions against corporations.
• Care Over Cost
• Homes Guarantee
• Organizing Revival
• Movement Politics
• People's Platform
• People's Slate
• People's Pledge
• United Ratepayers
• OurFuture.org

Products and services

• Organizing Revival

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 350 movement politics candidates elected since 2016
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• State Innovation Exchange (SiX): Progressive state legislator network that coordinates state-level legislative action across states. Comparable on multi-state progressive coordination and policy platform development (akin to People's Platform), but legislator-facing rather than member-facing.
• Dēmos: Progressive policy and advocacy think tank focused on economic and racial justice. Comparable on advocacy issue portfolio (housing, healthcare, democracy reform) but operates primarily through research and litigation rather than grassroots federation.

Direct peers

• Working Families Party: Minor progressive political party with state affiliates running multi-state electoral and ballot-line organizing. Highly comparable on the Movement Politics-style candidate recruitment and progressive cross-state federation model.
• Faith in Action (formerly PICO): National faith-based community organizing federation with state and local affiliates doing relational organizing, voter mobilization, and direct-action campaigns. Comparable federation structure and relational/deep canvassing methodology.
• Community Change (formerly Center for Community Change): National progressive power-building organization supporting a network of state and local affiliates on economic and racial justice. Operates a parallel federation model with shared training, electoral, and issue-campaign infrastructure to People's Action.
• Center for Popular Democracy: Federated national network of 45+ state and local community organizations doing base-building organizing on housing, economic justice, and electoral work. Most direct peer to People's Action in structure, scale, and progressive multi-state federation model.
• MoveOn: Large progressive civic engagement organization with millions of members running petitions, electoral endorsements, and GOTV programs. Comparable on member scale, online advocacy tools, and progressive electoral mobilization focus.
• Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC): Progressive advocacy and electoral organization running candidate recruitment, endorses progressive primary challengers, and online mobilization. Closely comparable on Movement Politics-style electoral strategy and donor mobilization.

Broad incumbents

• NAACP: Large national civil rights organization with state and local branches running voter mobilization, advocacy campaigns, and litigation. Comparable on civil rights and voter engagement mission, with much broader institutional footprint than People's Action.
• Sierra Club: Large national environmental advocacy organization with state chapters running grassroots campaigns and electoral endorsements. Comparable on grassroots federation model and on the climate campaign work People's Action runs through People & Planet First.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/peoplesaction
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=gJQtG1UsJlY
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/peoplesaction
• Facebookfacebook.com/pplsaction
• Instagraminstagram.com/peoplesaction

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 People's Action