openPetition
openPetition is a non-profit platform that promotes citizen participation and democracy. Since 2010, it has enabled the creation and publication of online petitions. With tools like openDemokratie and opn.vote, it supports a transparent dialogue between citizens and decision-makers.
openPetition: Promoting Citizen Participation and Democracy
editAbout the Company
editopenPetition is an open internet platform for online petitions, founded in 2010 in Berlin. The platform is aimed at decision-makers from politics, business, and society and serves to promote easier, more effective, and more transparent citizen participation.
Key Products and Services
edit- Petitions and Campaigns: openPetition allows users to start, publish, and collect signatures for their own petitions. This can happen at local, regional, national, or even European levels[1][2][3].
- openDemocracy Tool: A special platform for municipalities that allows them to use community-owned petition systems free of charge[1][2].
- House Parliaments: A platform where people can discuss political issues online and offline and collaboratively develop solutions[2].
- opn.vote: A tool for democratic online voting[2].
Mission and Values
editThe main mission of openPetition is to promote democracy and citizen participation and to enable a transparent dialogue between citizens and politicians. The platform remains politically neutral and is committed to transparency, data protection, and diversity. openPetition supports people in creating, publishing, and submitting petitions to the relevant petition committees[1][2][3].
Sustainability Goals and Initiatives
edit- Responsible Ownership: Since February 2022, openPetition has been organized in responsible ownership, ensuring that the core values of the organization are preserved across generations. This includes self-restraint, ensuring that profits are reinvested in the organization and that no decisions can be made that betray the principles of the organization[1][2].
- Free Petitions: Thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, petitions aimed at private actors such as companies can again run free of charge on the platform, even though they are not legally considered charitable. This is made possible by the support association of openPetition[4].
- Reform of Charitable Status Law: openPetition, together with other organizations, advocates for a reform of the charitable status law to enable civic engagement regardless of financial barriers[4].
Funding and Structure
editopenPetition is operated by openPetition gGmbH and is recognized as a non-profit organization. Funding comes from small donations from users. The organization has a fixed staff of 12 employees, one federal volunteer, and one intern, reaching over 1.2 million visitors and 1.8 million page views monthly[1][3].
Through its work, openPetition makes a significant contribution to strengthening democracy and citizen participation in the German-speaking region and beyond.
Sources:
edit- 1 - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPetition
- 2 - https://purpose-economy.org/de/companies/openpetition/
- 3 - https://www.betterplace.org/de/organisations/11447-openpetition-gemeinnuetzige-gmbh
- 4 - https://www.openpetition.de/blog/blog/2024/05/06/dank-unserer-user-wieder-moeglich-kostenlose-petitionen-gegen-unternehmen
- 5 - https://www.openpetition.de/blog/ratgeber__trashed/petitions-abc/online-petition