Causes (company)

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Causes.com
Causes Logo 2021.png
Founded2007
HeadquartersUnited States
OwnerCountable Corporation
CEOBart Myers [1]
Employees21 (as of 2021)[1]
URLcauses.com

Causes.com is a civic-technology app and website that enables users to organize grassroots and public awareness campaigns. The Causes platform presents summaries of breaking news, legislation, and trending topics and allows users to react, comment, share, or contact representatives about an issue. Users can  also create their own “Cause” and seek support from other users.[2][1]

In 2019, Causes was acquired by Countable Corporation.[3] In  2020, Countable.us and its associated app merged with Causes.com.[4]

Mission[]

Causes' stated mission is "to empower people to create change in the world through online organizing. Causes connects people who share a common vision and build the tools they need to make an impact.[5]

Any user can create a campaign on Causes, whether they work for a nonprofit or are an activist, interested in a certain issue. Nonprofits with smaller resources or extensive grassroots networks have been leveraging those resources to build online communities of supporters.[6] Users can publicize their activity to their personal network and use social pressure to engage friends and get more people involved.[7]

Causes is a for-profit business.[8] Investors include Sean Parker, Founders Fund, the Case Foundation and NEA[expand acronym].

History[]

Causes launched in 2007 as the first social advocacy application for Facebook.[9] [10] Users could create, join or browse causes focused on cause-related issues. Causes was used as a vehicle for community building, education, awareness, advocacy and fundraising.[11]

Causes was co-founded by Sean Parker and Joe Green.[12] Parker had previously worked with Napster, Facebook, and co-founded Plaxo,[13] and Green worked in grassroots organizing, including campaigns on the presidential levels.[14] Parker and Green combined their knowledge of offline organizing, online social networking and product design to create Causes.[15]

The platform is responsible for over 20 million messages to Congress and was featured in a 2014 New York Times piece on political apps.[16] It has also been featured in Wired,[17] and TechCrunch.[18]

Acquisition by Countable[]

Causes and its parent company Brigade were acquired by Countable Corporation in 2019. In 2020, Countable.us and its associated app merged with Causes.com.[19]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Causes Company Profile: Valuation & Investors | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  2. ^ "Causes Relaunches As A Social Network For Social Good Action, Not Shallow Clicktivism". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  3. ^ "Sean Parker's Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  4. ^ Rand Strauss (2020-11-29). "Successful (for-profit) New-Politics Sites". Blog of PeopleCount.org. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  5. ^ "Causes". Causes. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  6. ^ Hello? Arkansas? Yeah, It's Facebook Archived 2010-01-30 at the Wayback Machine, The NonProfit Times, June 2009.
  7. ^ Stone, Brad. "Users of Social Networks Use Posts to Support Charity". Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  8. ^ Strom, Stephanie. "Social Networking Sites Move Into Charity World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  9. ^ Stone, Brad (2009-11-12). "Clicking for a Cause (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  10. ^ "Early Facebook App Causes Is Being Reborn As A Polished Web Site For Good". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  11. ^ Kopp, Lawrence (2009-02-27). "How to setup a Facebook "Causes" page for your nonprofit". nj. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  12. ^ "Causes Acquires Votizen To Democratize Democracy". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  13. ^ Hartmans, Avery. "The incredible life and career of Sean Parker, who got his start as a teenage hacker before cofounding Napster and becoming a Facebook billionaire". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  14. ^ Scola, Molly Ball, Nancy (2012-05-17). "The Community Organizing Geeks Who Could Revolutionize Campaign Tech". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  15. ^ Constine, Josh (January 10, 2013). "Causes Acquires Votizen To Democratize Democracy". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  16. ^ Stone, Brad (2009-11-12). "Clicking for a Cause (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  17. ^ "An App That Makes It Easy to Pester Your Congress Member". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  18. ^ "Early Facebook App Causes Is Being Reborn As A Polished Web Site For Good". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  19. ^ "Peoplecount.org".

External links[]

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