Building Better Democracies: Change.org's Journey with TurboVote
When Change.org partnered with TurboVote in August 2024, they had a clear vision: to help their users transform their digital activism into electoral participation. As one of the world's largest platforms for civic action, Change.org understands that democracy thrives when people have multiple channels to make their voices heard.
"At Change.org, we're looking to build better democracies," explains Alex Rapson, Communications Manager at Change.org. "The tools on our platform enable users to become more engaged civic actors – from gathering community support for their causes, to engaging directly with decision makers. TurboVote was an obvious partner for supporting our users to take part in one of our most important civic duties: voting."
This vision drove Change.org to develop a comprehensive voter engagement strategy using TurboVote. Rather than treating voting as a standalone activity, they wove it into their existing narrative of civic engagement. Their email campaigns emphasized this connection, telling users: "You use Change.org to participate in small acts of democracy all the time, like signing petitions that impact your community. And we want to make sure you have everything you need to take part in the biggest act of democracy: voting."
From September through Election Day on November 5th, Change.org leveraged their TurboVote hub to achieve remarkable engagement with their audience. Their outreach for National Voter Registration Day and state specific campaigns reached nearly 500,000 people, and provided actionable information about early voting and registration deadlines. As Election Day approached, Change.org continued their outreach. Follow up registration reminders prompted over 6,000 users to click through to learn more about registering, and a polling place locator campaign prompted over 4,000 users to look up their polling locations. The culmination of their efforts came on Election Day when over 5 million people received a voting reminder email directing to critical information and resources for voters in their TurboVote hub.
Change.org's approach to implementation was both strategic and comprehensive. They created a dedicated landing page for voting information and integrated TurboVote across multiple channels, including their email communications and social media platforms. Recognizing that voting regulations vary by state, they developed targeted communications, ensuring users received relevant information about their specific voting options, whether it was early voting opportunities or same-day registration availability.
What made their approach particularly effective was their understanding of their audience's journey from digital actor to voter. By connecting petition-signing to voting as complementary forms of civic engagement, Change.org helped their users see how different forms of civic participation work together to strengthen democracy.
The collaboration between Change.org and TurboVote shows that when trusted platforms provide their communities with clear pathways to electoral participation, people respond. By making voting information accessible and connecting it to their users' existing civic engagement, Change.org is helping build a stronger democracy—one vote at a time.
