Causes (company)

History

Causes was launched in 2007 as the first social advocacy application for Facebook. Causes was co-founded by Sean Parker and Joe Green. Parker had previously worked with Napster and Facebook, and he co-founded Plaxo. Green worked in grassroots organizing, including campaigns on the presidential level. Parker and Green combined their knowledge of offline organizing, online social networking, and product design to create Causes.

The platform provided over 20 million messages to Congress and was featured in a 2014 New York Times piece on political apps**.** It has also been featured in Wired, and TechCrunch. Investors included Sean Parker, Founders Fund, the Case Foundation and NEA (New Enterprise Associates).

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". As of 2022, the Countable "Causes" network had over 190 million users.

Causes is a for-profit business.

Acquisition by Countable

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

Products

Users are able to create, join, or browse causes focused on cause-related issues. Users of Causes could also create campaigns, where they published activity to a network of followers. Causes was used as a vehicle for community building, education, awareness, advocacy, and fundraising.

References

References

1. "Causes Relaunches As A Social Network For Social Good Action, Not Shallow Clicktivism".
2. "Causes Company Profile: Valuation & Investors {{!}} PitchBook".
3. "Sean Parker's Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable".
4. Rand Strauss. (2020-11-29). "Successful (for-profit) New-Politics Sites".
5. Stone, Brad. (2009-11-12). "Clicking for a Cause (Published 2009)". The New York Times.
6. "Early Facebook App Causes Is Being Reborn As A Polished Web Site For Good".
7. "Causes Acquires Votizen To Democratize Democracy".
8. 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".
9. Scola, Molly Ball, Nancy. (2012-05-17). "The Community Organizing Geeks Who Could Revolutionize Campaign Tech".
10. Constine, Josh. (January 10, 2013). "Causes Acquires Votizen To Democratize Democracy". [[TechCrunch]].
11. Stone, Brad. (2009-11-12). "Clicking for a Cause (Published 2009)". The New York Times.
12. "An App That Makes It Easy to Pester Your Congress Member".
13. "Causes {{!}} NEA {{!}} New Enterprise Associates".
14. "Causes".
15. Hall, Christine. (2021-10-20). "Countable brings in $12M for virtual brand communities".
16. Strom, Stephanie. "Social Networking Sites Move Into Charity World". The New York Times.
17. Constine, Josh. (2019-05-01). "Sean Parker's Brigade/Causes acquired by gov-tech app Countable".
18. "Peoplecount.org".
19. Kopp, Lawrence. (2009-02-27). "How to setup a Facebook "Causes" page for your nonprofit".