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Change.org Now Under Nonprofit Umbrella Foundation
Change.org Now Under Nonprofit Umbrella Foundation

Change.org, which provides petition and campaign tools for social change, is now under the ownership of the nonprofit Change.org Foundation. Change.org had been founded in 2007 as a Public Benefit Corporation — a for-profit entity that includes specific public benefits as part of its charter. Change.org will continue to operate as a Public Benefit Corporation entirely owned by the Change.org Foundation.

More than 50 investors, including LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman, Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson, hedge fund manager Ray Dalio, Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates and Huffington Post Co-Founder Arianna Huffington, will donate their equity holdings to the Change.org Foundation, according to an announcement from the organization.

The new organizational structure is geared toward securing Change.org’s operations as an independent digital public utility in perpetuity, according to a company statement.

Change.org Founder and CEO Ben Rattray will serve as executive chair for the Change.org Foundation and Change.org’s former chief product officer, Nick Allardice, was appointed as the new CEO of Change.org.

“Nonprofit ownership will secure the long-term stewardship of Change.org as a digital public utility committed to the public interest,” Rattray said via a statement. “Hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on Change.org for the tools and support to have their voice heard, and this shift in ownership and governance ensures the permanent independence of our platform and our legal commitment to our mission to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see.”

Change.org facilitates more than 70,000 campaigns around the world every month. Supported issues range from advocating universal basic income within the United States to school and essential worker safety and many others.