I just finished reviewing attributes of NationBuilder 2011 campaign customers, and the results are a huge validation of our vision: municipal candidates actively using NationBuilder won most of their races, and the average cost from their first bill through their election date for these grassroots candidates was only $234.

I looked at North American candidates who used custom domain names (e.g., "bobformayor.com") and represented our more active customers. Among this group of munipal candidates, NationBuilder customers won 77 percent of their elections. Their total costs for our election software and information services included voter data and outreach tools, websites, bulk emailing, and social media and volunteer and events management.

@TechCrunch http://tcrn.ch/gbL7zL @NationBuilder represents what great innovation can do for non-profits and campaigns

— Jeff McLean (@mclean) April 17, 2011

NationBuilder is a non-partisan community organizing platform and supports candidates across the political spectrum, as well as not-for-profit groups, businesses and others looking to grow community online. In 2011, it was used primarily in the U.S., Canada and the UK. Municipal candidates using NationBuilder ranged from a City Council hopeful in Provo, UT, to a first-time mayoral candidate in San Francisco. NationBuilder municipal office seekers came from the Green, Democratic and Republican parties, and also included independents. In addition to municipal candidates, NationBuilder is used by national and state parties, large unions and candidates at the state and federal levels, including presidential candidates in the U.S. and Kenya.

Most of our municipal-level customers used free NationBuilder official themes for their websites without extensive customization or third-party design work. 

These 2011 election results for our engaged entry-level customers show that NationBuilder is doing exactly what it was designed for: allowing grassroots candidates to win their elections without having to spend thousands of dollars on tech, sign lengthy contracts, or pay excessive fees for public voter file data. We're excited to see how folks will use our platform in the 2012 cycle, and aim to continue to drive down the costs of accessing electoral information and the tools to reach voters.

In addition to a library of 30 on-demand training videos, we offer regular NationBuilder training webinars for political campaigns and organizers, online donation processing with or without merchant accounts, and support a growing network of expert designers and consultants who specialize in NationBuilder.