FAQ

• How do I create a petition?
• Who can create a petition?
• How much does it cost to submit a petition?
• What petition topics are acceptable?
• When can I start collecting signatures?
• How do I include a photo with my petition signature?
• How can I let petition signers upload a photo?
• How will my petition be submitted to the target?
• What information will I receive about the signers of my petition?
• How can I communicate with petition signers?
• How long will my petition stay online?
• How do I get started?
• Where do I start?
• Who will see my signature information?
• I made a mistake in my signature. How can I change it?
• Why isn't my signature listed where my email said it would be listed?
• Can I view past the most recent signatures?
• Do online petitions really make a difference?
• Is signing a petition all I need to do to make a difference?
• How can I have my personal information automatically entered on the petition?
• Why do I need to leave a comment when signing a petition?
• How do I contact the petition owner?
• Why are there expired petitions on the site?
• How do I invite others to sign a petition?
• How do I edit or manage my petition?
• How does the Petition Site protect my privacy?
• How can others in my family sign a petition on the same computer?
• How can I keep track of the petitions that I have signed?
• Can petitions be used for a government referendum?
• Does it matter if I do not live in the state/country the petition is addressing?
• Why are comments required for some petitions?
• As the author/sponsor of a petition, how do I manage signatures?
• As the author/sponsor of a petition, how do I collect all the signatures to send them to the target?
• What is an Effective Target?
• I keep getting strange characters in my petition. What is happening?

• How do I create a petition?

  The vast majority of our petitions are written by either our partner Non-Profit Organizations, or by our members. We encourage you to write and submit a petition that addresses your concern, so that you may effect some change with respect to this important issue. Click the Create a Petition link at the top-right of most PetitionSite pages to learn more about creating petitions.

  Petitions require a petition target, a brief summary of the issue and reason that people should take action now, and a letter to the target of the petition clearly stating the demands of the petition signers; click here for a full list of the data we collect on every petition.

  You'll need a few things to get started:

  1. Sponsor information: Your name or the name of the organization.
  2. Target information: The name of the person, company, or organization to whom the petition and signatures will be delivered.
  3. Petition headline and description: Name your petition and tell your signers about the issue.
  4. Petition letter: This is the letter you'll deliver to your target.
  5. Signature goal: How many people do you want to sign it? Aim high. Change the world.
  6. Deadline: How long do you want your petition to be active?

  Once you have created and posted a petition, it is up to you to get the signatures. Promote it on discussion boards, send it to your friends, tell people about it. Popular petitions, at the discretion of PetitionSite.com staff, may be promoted on the drill-down pages for their category, or even on the PetitionSite.com home page. The more support you have, the greater the impact you will have!

  Click here to start creating a petition now!

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• Who can create a Petition?

  Anyone can create a petition. All you need is a desire to make a difference. Once you have published your petition, it's ready to sign.

  You must have a Care2 account in order to host a petition on The Petition Site. However, if you do not already have a Care2 account, you'll be given a chance to create one as you write your petition.

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• How much does it cost to submit a petition?

  It's free! We have created PetitionSite to be a free community of people taking action and garnering support for their concerns. We encourage anyone and everyone to get involved and take a swing at sponsoring a petition.

  It is also completely free to sign a petition, and we encourage people to send petitions on to their friends and family - hit the Tell your Friends after you sign!

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• What petition topics are acceptable?

  PetitionSite is a project of www.Care2.com, the largest online network for people who Care2 make a difference. Care2 offers PetitionSite.com as a non-partisan tool for people working on a variety of issues and causes. What's in it for us? By driving traffic to PetitionSite.com, we hope to build community around important causes, support the democratic process, and help organizations we support as well. Petitions on all sides of an issue are welcome.

  All you need is an issue and a desire to make a difference. We accept petitions on any subject.

  We reserve the right to remove petitions found to be excessively offensive by our users or editorial staff.

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• When can I start collecting signatures?

  Instantly. Your petition will be ready to sign after you create and publish it. You can collect signatures and promote your petition within minutes.

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• How do I include a photo with my petition signature?

  Photos add extra impact, and let the petition target see that there is a real person behind the signature. Petitions must be photo-enabled by the petition creator. If you are a petition creator and would like to photo-enable your petition, you will be given an option to do so when creating a new petition. If you'd like to photo-enable an existing petition, visit the Signature Requirements page off of that petition's Dashboard, accessible from your My PetitionSite page.

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• How can I let petition signers upload a photo?

  Photos increase your petition's impact. All signers have the option of adding a photo.

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• How will my petition be submitted to the target?

  It is your responsibility to deliver the petition to the target. The PetitionSite provides tools to export your signatures.

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• What information will I receive about the signers of my petition?

  To protect the privacy of petition signers, you will receive signers' names, city, state, country and their comments.

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• How can I communicate with petition signers?

  In the management dashboard for your petition, you can enter a message that will be included in a "thank-you for signing" message that is sent to each petition signer. Additionally, when you close the petition, you can send a "results" message to petition signers. Signers love to know they've made a difference.

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• How long will my petition stay online?

  As long as they receive signatures, they'll remain online. If a petition receives less than 1,000 signatures in four months, it will be moved down in the category page to make room for more popular petitions.

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• How do I get started?

  All you need is an issue you're passionate about and an action to make a difference on that issue. The key to writing a compelling petition is research. Hone your message, identify your target and change the world.

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• Where do I start?

  • Step one: Create a free Care2 profile.
  • Step two: Create a petition at petitionsite.com.
  • Step three: Make a difference.

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• Who will see my signature information?

  There are several ways your signature information may be shared:

  Public Petition Signature pages. Certain fields will be displayed on the publicly displayed signature page for all to see. Your email address, street address and telephone number are never displayed on this page. You are always given the option to check a box to hide your name, and replace it with the word "anonymous." You are also required to preview your signature before you submit it, to prevent mistakes.

  Petition Author / Target. At the close of the petition, we provide all of the signature information to the petition author with the exception of your email address, street address and telephone number. These fields of information will only be shared with the petition author and target on a case by case basis to verify the validity of your signature.

  Your Privacy is Important: PetitionSite.com and Care2.com believe in protecting personal privacy on line. To this end, we are a member of the independent watchdog group, Truste.org. Please see our full privacy statement on Care2.com.

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• I made a mistake in my signature, how can I change it?

  You can only sign once. Because petition letters are often sent to the target immediately upon signing, you cannot edit your signature information once it has been submitted.

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• Why isn't my signature listed where my email said it would be listed

  The confirmation email is sent prior to a filter being applied to remove duplicates, so your signature may shift places. To find out where your signature is on the petition, please log into your account and click on MyPetitionSite in upper right. Click on the petition in question, go to that petition's homepage and note the time and date you signed at the bottom of the petition.

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• Can I view past the most recent signatures?

  Yes! Below the table of recent signatures, you will see the a series of numbered links. Use "1" and the largest number to jump to the most recent and earliest pages of signatures or the numbered links to jump straight to individual pages.

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• Do online petitions really make a difference?

  Yes.

  Signing a petition is effective. A number of factors influence the effectiveness of a petition. The more a target organization is impacted by public opinion, the more effective your petitions. In addition, the Petition Site enhances the credibility of online petitions by centralizing signature collection, regulating signature data collection and output, facilitating communication of petitions via fax, email, etc. and by using fraud-reduction technology. The effect of a petition goes far beyond the actual list of signatures. Journalists write stories about petitions, signers get inspired to take additional action and other potential targets conform their behavior to avoid being a target.

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• Is signing a petition all I need to do to make a difference?

  Signing a petition is a great start, but there are almost always other ways you can help. Please see our How Can I Help More? page for ideas!

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• How can I have my personal information automatically entered on the petition?

  If you are logged into your free Care2 account, your information automatically populates the fields. Do you have heightened security enabled on your Care2 account? This will prevent the fields from auto-populating your information.

  To change your security settings, click here:
  http://www.care2.com/c2c/my/edit_security.html

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• Why do I need to leave a comment when signing a petition?

  Comments add gravity to the petition. Comments make your signature unique. With many of the petition no-comment-based Internet collections, your name and information would be added simply to one letter that is all the same. Many of the government organizations have decided that all those letters (sometimes thousands) will count as one public comment and not more, thus invalidating the signatures. Obviously, this shouldn't be allowed and we are fighting such techniques so that all signatures will count. To make sure your signature counts, we ask that you add a unique comment at the end of the letter. This ensures that the target reads each letter that we collect.

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• How do I contact the petition owner?

  To contact the sponsor of any petition on our site, click on the sponsor's name in the upper left corner of the petition. The sponsor will receive your message, and will be given your email address, so that they may respond to your feedback.

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• Why are there expired petitions on the site?

  Sometimes petitions stay up after the expiration date because they are still topical. It's up to the author to give the information to the intended target. If you are still unsure of the petition, contact the petition owner and ask if it is still accepting signatures.

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• How do I invite others to sign a petition?

  At the bottom of each petition, you'll find an "e-mail this petition to your friends" link. Click on it and follow the instructions. It's a quick and easy way to magnify the impact of your signature.

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• How do I edit or manage my petition?

  Every petition you create has a dashboard, where you can edit your petition's content, download signature reports, and remove offensive signatures.

  The petitions you've created are listed on your My Petitionsite page, under the Petitions Authored heading. Find the title of the petition you'd like to manage, then click the "[manage petition]" link to go to that petition's dashboard.

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• How does the Petition Site protect my privacy?

  In order to make sure your signature counts, we need to send some of your information to the petition creator. Our privacy policy explains exactly how your information is shared.

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• How can others in my family sign a petition on the same computer?

  To preserve the integrity of the petition and to prevent inadvertent re-signs, we block multiple signatures from individual accounts. If more than one person is signing from a single computer, you may see a note that says "Oops! Hi John Doe! Our records indicate you have already signed this petition. If you are not John Doe , please click here to sign the petition." Click on that link, to enable another person sharing your computer to sign.

  Even if no one else uses your computer, you may still see that message if the link you clicked to view the petition was forwarded to you by someone who copied the url of the page after signing the petition. In this case, our database might think you have already signed. As noted above, just click the link to sign the petition.

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• How can I keep track of the petitions that I have signed?

  In order to track the Petitions you have signed, click on the My PetitionSite link in the upper right corner of the PetitionSite homepage and most other pages on PetitionSite.com. In addition, every time you sign, you will receive a confirmation email. You can file these emails in a mail folder in order to keep your own record of signed petitions.

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• Can petitions be used for a government referendum?

  PetitionSite.com is frequently used by organizations to collect comments during "Public Comment Periods," official periods defined by government agencies to collect feedback on proposed rules and regulations from voters. However, due to the challenges of signature authentication it is not yet possible to use online petitions for legal referendum. It is important to note though that petitions are effective because of their ability to influence policy decision-making, not because they tally enough "votes" to pass a law. If a petition gets a large number of signatures it can have a significant impact by raising the awareness of the policy maker/target.

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• Does it matter if I do not live in the state/country the petition is addressing?

  Each petition on our site is different, some are for anyone of any nation or state, while others are targeted specifically to certain nationalities, or certain US states. Most petitions will list this information on them, but if you are ever unsure about a particular petition, simply contact the petition sponsor (located at the top of the petition) and they will let you know if and how your signature will help.

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• Why are comments required for some petitions?

  The reason we require comments is because many of these petitions are being put together for public comment periods for the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, or other governmental offices. With many Internet-based petitions that don't require comments, your name and information would simply be plugged into an identical copy of a form letter. Many of the Government organizations have thus decided that all such identical letters — sometimes from thousands of individuals! — will count as just one public comment, making the thousands of signatures invalid. We think this shouldn't be allowed, and are fighting such techniques, so that the voices of all of a petition's signers will be heard. In order to make sure that we don't lose a single signature, and to make the greatest possible impact, we have our signers add their own unique comments, which are included in the body of each letter. Thus, the petition targets have to read each letter that we collect, and count them all individually instead of as just one comment! In addition, we think that our users have some great opinions that we think decision makers should have to hear!

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• As the author/sponsor of a petition, how do I manage signatures?

  You are responsible for ensuring that petition responses and signatures are delivered to the target. Click here to see a list of the petitions you've authored, and click the Manage Petition link next to a petition's title to bring up that petition's Dashboard. From the Dashboard, you can create signature reports, hide offensive signatures, and edit some aspects of your petition.

  You must be logged in as the Care2 user who owns a petition in order to manage that petition.

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• As the author/sponsor of a petition, how do I collect all the signatures to send them to the target?

  In order to send your petition, you first need to get all the signatures from our database.

  Follow these steps:

  1. Go to http://www.petitionsite.com.
  2. Log in as the user who created the petition.
  3. Go to your My PetitionSite page, at http://www.care2.com/my/petitionsite.
  4. Make sure you are on the "petitions started" tab.
  5. Click on the button to the left of the petition in question. This button will be labeled differently depending on the status of your petition. If your petition is in draft mode it will say 'Edit / Publish", if your petition has been published it will say "Promote", if your petition is closed it will say "Results".
  6. This takes you to your petition dashboard where you'll be able to generate a signature report to deliver to your target. Near the bottom, click on the link that says, "Deliver petition to target".
  7. Choose your preferred format for the signature report and click "Create Document".
  8. The signature report will be generated by our system and will be available for pickup on the same page after a couple hours. You will receive an email when the report is ready for pickup.

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• What is an Effective Target?

  An effective target is a person, company, or organization who is capable of effecting or creating the necessary change for your cause. If that person or company refuses to listen, consider targeting an official who can influence them.

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• I keep getting strange characters in my petition. What is happening?

  If you copied and pasted your message from Microsoft Word, there is likely extra embedded code which is keeping your message from being displayed properly. If you want to draft your petition first, try using a plain text document, such as TextEdit or Notepad.

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