A few times a year, Signal broadcasts in-app fundraising messages, inviting everyone who uses Signal to make a donation. You may have seen these messages and maybe even made a gift yourself. (If so, thank you, generous friend!) These fundraising “megaphones” help us raise the critical funds we need to operate Signal and continuously improve the app. They also help us raise awareness about the fact that Signal is a 501c3 nonprofit public charity.
Those words are not casual descriptions but formal, legal designations that are made by the US Internal Revenue Service. To become a 501c3 nonprofit, an organization must prove that it exists exclusively for charitable purposes, and to become a public charity, the organization must provide a direct public benefit and have broad public funding. The Signal app is the direct benefit we provide, and our broad public funding comes primarily from user donations.
Becoming a 501c3 was an intentional decision to carve a different path in tech. Unlike other widely used communication apps – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Line, to name a few – Signal is the rare option that doesn’t seek to profit off its users. It seeks to serve its users. We can’t see or analyze your messages, access your personal photos, track your location, or target you with consumer advertising – all commonplace tactics that big tech companies use to keep their apps seemingly “free” while reaping profits for their shareholders.
Without shareholders to satisfy, nonprofits are liberated to serve a mission above all else. At Signal, our mission is to protect free expression and enable secure global communication through open source privacy technology; we do this by operating the Signal app 24/7 for millions of people around the world. We build Signal for you, not for profit.
With our mission guiding the way, Signal puts privacy first, always. We continuously improve the app, strengthen its privacy protections, and respond to emerging security threats. Instead of adopting solutions that are quick and easy to implement but sacrifice privacy, we do the hard work of innovating solutions that protect our users. Staying true to our mission makes the work more complex and expensive, but these deliberate choices – made day-in and day-out over the past decade – are why Signal is the industry leader in private communications.
This single-minded focus on mission is one reason that nonprofits are some of the most trusted organizations in the United States. Over the years, several studies, including this recent one by Independent Sector, show that people trust nonprofits more than large corporations, government, or the media. Signal is proud to be among the 2 million US nonprofit organizations that people trust to uphold its ideals and work for the common good.
Yet there’s no getting around the fact that running a global communications platform like Signal is an expensive endeavor. We have many of the same costs and responsibilities of other big messaging apps, without the lucrative funding streams those apps take in through surveillance business models. Instead, like other nonprofits, we rely almost entirely on donations to power our work. This is where those “megaphones” (and you) come in.
If you’re reading this, it’s very likely that Signal is right there in your pocket, on your own phone. Nearly everyone who donates to Signal uses the app themselves, has loved ones who rely on the app, or wants to support journalism or other causes that rely on Signal for communications infrastructure. We know that not everyone who uses Signal can give, but we hope all those who can will chip in to help keep Signal thriving.
Every gift, no matter the size, helps us stay ahead of evolving security threats and continuously improve the user experience. When you give, you directly contribute to making Signal better, not just for you but for everyone who uses the app. Your gift is also a vote of confidence in Signal, an endorsement of our mission, and a testament to the fact that people value their right to privacy.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Signal simply would not exist without donor support. Whether you give in the app or through our website, I invite you to be part of the global community that sustains Signal. If you’d like to have a personal conversation about making a gift, share the reasons you support Signal, or help connect us with other funders, reach out to us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.