Case Study: Avaaz

About client

Avaaz, meaning "voice" in several languages, is a prominent U.S.-based nonprofit platform established in 2007 with a mission to mobilize global activism across issues such as climate change, human rights, animal welfare, corruption, poverty, and conflict. Recognized as “the globe's largest and most powerful online activist network,” Avaaz has a dedicated team on six continents and empowers millions to create change through petitions, media campaigns, lobbying, and protests across 17 languages. By providing a platform for grassroots movements, Avaaz unites individuals from diverse backgrounds, enabling them to take collective action and close the gap between the world we have and the world we desire.

About project

The project with Avaaz was initiated through a recommendation from the CTO of the Huffington Post, who recognized our technical expertise and value-driven approach. Since 2011, we have been a committed partner, working on essential projects that support Avaaz's mission. This includes modernizing campaign emails, restructuring their platform architecture, and developing tools to empower Avaaz's global community. Each project aimed to make Avaaz's platform more accessible, efficient, and scalable, driving long-term engagement and impact.

Objectives & Challenges

The primary objective of our work with Avaaz was to modernize their platform to support and amplify their mission of grassroots activism on a global scale. Avaaz needed a team capable of maintaining a high level of cultural alignment, technical expertise, and flexibility. Our approach required the ability to scale resources in response to fluctuating demands, enhance system performance, and deliver innovative solutions that spanned email engagement, software architecture, and community engagement tools. Avaaz's unique platform also demanded a resilient infrastructure to support its expanding community and enable individuals to voice concerns across various issues in a powerful and collaborative way. An additional, critical challenge was ensuring the privacy and security of personally identifiable information (PII), given that members from certain countries could face risks of persecution due to their participation in Avaaz campaigns. For Avaaz, security and privacy safeguards are paramount, and they perform regular security audits, provide cybersecurity education to staff and contractors, and implement protective measures to maintain a high security standard. FlexMade's commitment to a professional approach to cybersecurity was essential in helping Avaaz uphold these values throughout the project.

Approach & Methodology

To achieve Avaaz's objectives, FlexMade adopted a structured yet adaptable approach. We began by focusing on enhancing Avaaz's core campaign communications through email outreach modernization and redesigning campaign emails for improved user experience and brand alignment. To ensure long-term platform stability and scalability, we migrated their platform from a PHP monolithic architecture to a service-oriented one built on Python. This restructuring provided the foundation for deferred event processing, a solution addressing Avaaz's need to manage high-traffic surges during peak campaign times. Additionally, we developed a community petitions feature that empowered Avaaz's members to create localized petitions, fostering a deeper level of regional engagement. By enhancing the feedback loop on email deliverability, we optimized recipient lists, ensuring that campaign emails reached only active, interested users. In collaboration with Avaaz, we also prioritized stringent security measures. This included implementing regular security audits and encryption protocols to protect user data, particularly for members in high-risk regions. Our team supported Avaaz's educational efforts, instructing employees and contractors on best practices for data security, and aligning with Avaaz's proactive measures to safeguard user privacy.

Campaign emails

Avaaz petition campaign emails are a powerful tool that the organization uses to mobilize its large, global community. These emails, reaching about 200,000 active users daily, are crafted to drive action on a wide array of issues, from environmental concerns and human rights to urgent calls for policy change or disaster response. Each email is designed to be more than an informational piece; it's a strategic call to action, often providing links to petitions, donation opportunities, or event registrations. The effectiveness of these emails is crucial to Avaaz's mission. They not only encourage individual contributions to collective campaigns but also maintain high engagement by featuring flexible, content-rich designs that can be adapted for various campaign needs. The structure and delivery of these emails ensure that Avaaz can rapidly mobilize its audience in response to unfolding events, leveraging user engagement and feedback to continually refine campaign effectiveness and message impact.

The Community Petitions

This functionality empowers members to create and run petitions targeting issues specific to their regions, allowing grassroots advocacy for regional matters. This tool is designed for ease of use, enabling members to set up and share petitions focusing on pressing local issues. Avaaz's platform amplifies these campaigns, increasing their reach beyond the immediate community, often leading to broader support. This feature has been a key driver of Avaaz's membership growth, as new users are attracted to the platform by regionally relevant petitions. Additionally, community petitions can sometimes scale to Avaaz's global network if they gain traction, connecting local concerns with the platform's international activism. This integration of local and global voices has deepened engagement and expanded Avaaz's impact across diverse issues.

Fundraising for Direct Actions and Media Campaigns

Avaaz harnesses the collective power of its members to fund specific, high-impact initiatives through targeted fundraising campaigns. This feature allows Avaaz to rapidly secure funds for direct actions such as media campaigns, legal advocacy, and on-the-ground support for urgent issues. Members can contribute to initiatives that align with their values, from climate action and human rights to emergency disaster relief. For instance, Avaaz has raised funds to support reforestation projects, provide resources for indigenous groups defending their land, and produce targeted advertisements that bring visibility to critical causes. Funds raised go toward diverse tactics, including producing impactful multimedia campaigns, covering legal fees to challenge harmful policies, or organizing protest events. Avaaz's fundraising efforts are uniquely flexible; they respond to long-term advocacy goals and immediate, pressing crises. This responsiveness and transparency on how funds are used helps maintain trust among members and encourages ongoing support. Avaaz empowers its community to be financially involved in advocacy efforts through these campaigns, transforming individual contributions into a substantial collective force.

Feedback and Analytics Systems

The systems are integral to optimizing campaign effectiveness and ensuring each initiative resonates with the community. Avaaz continuously monitors key performance metrics like email open rates, click-through rates, and social media engagement. These analytics offer real-time insights into how members respond to specific campaigns, enabling the organization to adjust messages, visuals, or calls to action based on live feedback. Avaaz can refine campaigns to reach the broadest possible audience while ensuring that messages align with the values and priorities of its members. Beyond standard engagement metrics, the feedback system tracks user sentiment, providing qualitative insights into how campaigns are received. This includes gathering responses from supporters on issues that matter most to them and monitoring trends in public opinion across regions and demographics. Avaaz uses this data to inform campaign strategy, ensuring the platform remains highly responsive and member-focused. By continually analyzing member engagement and sentiment, Avaaz enhances individual campaigns and strengthens the organization's overall strategy, adapting over time to better address the evolving priorities of its global community.

Job done

The solution

The solution involved a series of strategic improvements that elevated Avaaz's capabilities across multiple dimensions. FlexMade redesigned campaign emails to improve user engagement, enhance brand consistency, and allow for more flexible content presentation. We migrated Avaaz's platform to a service-oriented architecture, which not only enabled higher scalability and stability but also paved the way for deferred event processing, allowing the platform to handle significant spikes in user activity during campaign launches. Additionally, we developed a community petitions feature that allowed members to create and drive regional campaigns, supporting Avaaz's mission to empower local action. By enhancing the email feedback loop, we refined email deliverability processes, ensuring more efficient communication with active members and reducing redundancies within Avaaz's recipient lists.

Throughout the project, our emphasis on cybersecurity ensured that PII remained protected, with secure data handling practices that aligned with Avaaz's rigorous privacy standards. This has been vital in providing members with a safe platform to participate in global and regional activism without fear of reprisal.

The result

Our collaboration with Avaaz has transformed their platform into a resilient and scalable system, enabling millions of individuals worldwide to engage in meaningful activism. The modernized campaign emails have driven higher engagement rates, fostering a consistent and positive experience for Avaaz users. The service-oriented architecture has provided Avaaz with a robust infrastructure capable of supporting their growing global community and handling increased demand without compromising stability. The community petitions feature has expanded Avaaz's reach, allowing users to create regional campaigns and driving substantial membership growth. Enhanced email deliverability processes have further optimized campaign efficiency by focusing on active, engaged users. Through our ongoing partnership, FlexMade has supported Avaaz's mission to unite people globally in pursuit of a just and sustainable world.

The technologies

Python
Flask
PHP
Laravel
MySQL

Client's feedback

Matt Holland

Chief Online Officer

Avaaz has a long and happy relationship with FlexMade, and several of our best and longest-serving developers work there. We really appreciate the good work FlexMade does for Avaaz.

Related cases

HuffPost - Breaking News

HuffPost News is an online newspaper founded in 2005. With a presence in 15 countries, HuffPost delivers truthful, engaging, and inclusive stories. The platform's success relies on its content and robust technical infrastructure.

BuzzFeed - Digital News Portal

BuzzFeed is a prominent American digital media company recognized for its diverse content, ranging from news to entertainment, viral trends, and social media-friendly material. As the world’s leading independent digital media platform, BuzzFeed creates a wide array of content, including serious journalism, entertaining listicles, quizzes, and engaging videos that are designed for easy sharing.