Thanks to the internet and younger generations, activism is on the rise. The trend of online campaigns and petitions has also made it much easier for anyone with internet access to campaign for their cause.
So if you care about any social or political cause, you can start a petition yourself on the below-mentioned platforms.
1. Change.org
Change.org is perhaps the most popular online petition website that empowers common people to make a change. It claims that each hour a petition on its platform achieves its goal.
Starting your petition on Change.org is fairly simple and takes little time. On its home page, click on Start Petition in the top menu. Then, select the category of the petition and enter a title.
Choose any person, organization, or legislature that has the power to act on your petition as the target. Next, write a description and add an image or video to your petition. Finally, publish your petition and share it in your circle to build momentum.
Thanks to the huge number of visitors this website gets, Change.org can help your petitions get more signatures. Starting a petition here is free, but you can donate to the platform.
2. iPetitions
iPetitions have collected a total of over 44 million signatures and have helped hundreds of petitions succeed. So if you want to create a true impact, iPetitions can help you reach your goal.
With its intuitive platform, iPetitions makes it simple for a layman to become an online activist. It has multiple features that offer flexibility and full control over your petitions. You can add custom questions to your petition and redesign it to reflect your cause.
You can start a petition in no time by entering minimum information and edit it post-publication. iPetitions lets you filter out duplicate signatures by limiting the number of signatures from an IP address. You can also download real-time petition data for your petitions.
Creating a petition on iPetitions is free, though you can promote your petitions by paying. iPetitions is a great choice for people who want more customization options.
3. GoPetition
GoPetition is another popular petition platform, with more than 80,000 petitions from 100+ countries. As it gets over 40 million monthly visits, GoPetition is a good option to raise awareness for a better world.
On GoPettions, you can add custom questions or form fields and design the petition page with HTML formatting. It lets you raise funds from your supporters. Another notable feature is that it shows you a signature map with location-wise signature clusters to give you insights into your campaign.
To prevent abuse and spam, GoPetition uses multiple filters. If you enable the Contact Author feature, your supporters can reach out to you on GoPetition. Moreover, people can discuss the petition with other signers on its built-in message board.
GoPetition also offers premium services like enabling reCAPTCHA, banning IP addresses, downloading email addresses of signers, and embedding signatures in websites, etc.
When creating the petition, you've to enter the basic details and choose the petition's settings. You can also add tags to your keyword to increase its visibility on Google and the GoPetition website.
4. Avaaz
Avaaz is another campaigning platform with around 70 million members worldwide. This platform is striving to close the gap between the present world and the world we dream of.
Avaaz has all the necessary features of a petition website and is quite easy to use. It supports petitions in 17 different languages. Avaaz has a great community and numerous visitors that have supported hundreds of causes.
In fact, the former UN Climate Chief, Christiana Figueres has appreciated Avaaz for its role in pressing for the Paris Climate Accord. So, it’s a great platform for people who want to create a real-world impact through online petitions.
5. RallyCall
RallyCall is another platform where you can create petitions and gather people’s support. It’s a relatively simple platform with a great site design.
The process of creating a petition is very similar to other websites. But RallyCall allows you to add more sections to your petition. You can set a campaign duration, mention decision-makers and influencers, and write petition highlights. You can also tell signers why they should care and how they can support your cause.
RallyCall is a great but lesser-known platform. So if you have a large following or community ready to support your cause, then RallyCall can be a good choice.
6. UK Government and Parliament Petitions
If the UK government has the authority to act on your petition, it's best to start a petition on its official website.
Only British citizens or UK residents can start a petition on this website. Moreover, you’ll need to submit the email addresses of your five supporters to get the petition live.
The upside of creating a petition here is that if your petition receives 10,000 signatures, you'll receive a response from the government. Similarly, if your petition garners 100,000 signatures, the parliament will consider it for a debate.
Like the UK, most governments have some kind of website for petitions or complaints. So, whatever country you belong to, it's worth checking if you can start a petition on a government site.
7. Causes
Causes is much more than an online petition website. On Causes, you can learn about the bills discussed in Congress, track how lawmakers are voting on them, and recommend to your representatives whether to vote in favor of or against them.
You can also create your own petitions on Causes. Causes' intuitive editor makes it simple to create a petition. You've to enter the title, image, description, and a compelling call-to-action. And, unlike other platforms, Causes lets you add different CTAs.
You can ask your supporters to either sign your petition, contact their representatives, share the petition, or react to it.
In short, Causes let you become a civic leader who works towards improving the community.
Campaign for Your Cause Online
Thanks to these online petition platforms, anyone can start a campaign for a cause that they care about. It can be anything from human rights, animals, climate, equality, or even internet freedom.
As long as you are willing to take a stand and have like-minded supporters, you can gather thousands of signatures on online petitions.
