The Petition Site

1Care2’s first-rate The Petition Site offers a simple online form letter that makes it easy to sign and send off. Making a petition takes three easy steps on this site: Start the petition page, add your information and create a “petition promo” (how it will appear on the site). Viewers will find the petition statement or letter directly next to the form they will be signing on the petition’s page.

The nonprofit marine conservation group Oceana recently posted a petition asking Congress to save bluefish tuna, a fish rapidly facing extinction because of unmonitored overfishing. The petition has received 10,600 signatures toward a goal of 15,000.

2Petition Online offers a slightly more intricate process to posting a petition. First, you can choose to have individuals’ names hidden, which can help gain signatures but lessens impact, in our view. Second, more information such as comments or zip code can be displayed next to the signature. The site’s most impressive feature is the ability to enter tags and targets for search engine optimization and community outreach. However, we don’t like the fact that you can’t see how much support a petition has gathered beforehand.

As a bonus kick, PetitionOnline’s Twitter account offers updates on recent petitions. The site claims it’s collected more than 87 million signatures with tens of thousands of active petitions. Here’s an example of a petition against the slaughter of horses. PetitionOnline is a branch of DesignCommunity, owned by Artifice, Inc.

3Go Petition is an independent site boasting petitions from more than 75 countries and a No. 1 ranking from Google. What makes GoPetition a bit different is its claim of working with non-governmental organizations and government patrons.

GoPetition also offers filtering options such as the ability to filter profanity and duplicate signatures as well as SEO capabilities. Typical petitions call for stopping the killing of Cape Town’s baboons and one that calls on Denmark to repeal a law banning certain breeds of dogs.

4And now for something completely different. Act.ly is a Twitter-based petition site that couldn’t be more simple: Type in the target’s Twitter name, type in what you are petitioning them to do, and there you have it! A petition is created and, as anything goes in the world of tweeting, you can start spreading it like wildfire. A page comes up with the direct tweet and the full message. Act.ly will display an area to show whether the target has responded or not.

Here’s an example asking Whirlpool Corp. not to close a refrigerator manufacturing plant in Evansville, Ind., that would put more than 1,100 people out of work. People have created 2,100 petitions on the relatively new site so far.

5Online Petition, another independent petition site, is pretty straightforward: Like the other sites, it lets anyone start, promote and sign petitions. It also helps you learn how to maximize your reach to gather thousands of signatures.

Online Petition offers a way to attach blog posts to your petition so that people can see the progress you’re making. Here’s an example of a petition I just created asking Rollins College to to reconsider its contract with a catering company.

6If you’re going to use mass email or a blog format, you can create a petition form through Google Docs. Simply log into Google Docs, go to Create New and choose the Form option from the drop down menu. After saving, the document can be emailed or you can get the HTML code to embed it in your blog.

7Download the WordPress Petition Plug-inand a petition form goes straight into your blog post. After a user submits the details, she receives an email to confirm her signature. Once the petition is complete, the creator can export the full details.

8iPetitions, a site run by RemoteIT, an Internet business service, has collected more than 17 million signatures for causes ranging from wildlife to business reform, from political campaigns to religious issues.

We’re not fond of this site. More often than not we’re met with this message: “The petition you tried to access has expired or has been taken down by its sponsor.”