Inspire Change with Free Petition Maker

Absolutely! You can use an online petition to rally support from a broad audience and accomplish your goals faster. Supporters can read, sign, and share your petition anytime, anywhere, so you can quickly build momentum and collect more signatures than you would in person. Online petitions also allow you to collect useful data about signers, such as their location. This helps you gain insights about supporter demographics and interests, so you can tailor future campaigns to increase their impact. 

Creating a petition is easy with Jotform. You can start from scratch using our intuitive drag-and-drop online builder, or select from our expansive library of free templates that you can customize in just a few clicks. Add fields to capture signatures, along with names, contact information, and comments. Then personalize the look of your petition to make it visually appealing. Once your petition is ready, you can share it via email, post it on social media, or embed it on your website to start gathering signatures instantly.

To get started, identify a clear, achievable goal and map out the steps to achieve it. Define your objective, identify the decision-makers with the power to make those changes, and the target audience you are hoping to convince to join your cause. Make sure you conduct research to understand the context and significance of your cause by gathering facts, figures, and compelling narratives that will help you build a strong case. This information will also guide you in answering questions from supporters or opponents. 

Next, develop a persuasive message that clearly explains the issue and communicates what you aim to change. Write a concise, compelling description that will help galvanize your audience and inspire them to take action. Use a combination of emotional appeals, facts, and testimonials to strengthen your case. Once you’ve created your messaging, you’re ready to build a petition and share it online.

A strong petition begins with a specific goal and well-crafted messaging that explains what you are trying to accomplish. The message should clearly state your objective, convey a sense of urgency, and provide a straightforward call to action to rally supporters. Make sure that your petition is addressed to someone with the authority to enact the changes you are requesting, rather than a general appeal for change that is not actionable. 

Conduct research on the subject of your petition so you can show your audience that you are knowledgeable about the issue. Ensure that you are well versed in any existing laws or regulations that may impact how you achieve your goal. Provide background information about the issue,  such as how it came to be this way, who is affected by it, and why it’s important to make a change. Then create an engaging title for your petition that grabs attention and makes your mission clear. Consider adding visuals to increase engagement. Finally, include other ways for supporters to take action aside from signing the petition. 

Include fields for supporters to add their first and last names, as well as relevant contact details like their email address, phone number, and location. Be sure to include a signature field so you can capture the respondent’s e-signature. You can also include a field for signers to add comments about why they are signing, along with checkboxes for them to indicate their interest in volunteering or receiving updates about the cause. 

The number of signatures you can collect with Jotform depends on what type of account you have. With the free Starter account, you can collect up to 100 submissions a month and store up to 500 total submissions. The Bronze plan supports up to 1,000 monthly submissions, the Silver plan supports 2,500 monthly submissions, and the Gold plan supports 10,000 monthly submissions. You can find out more about the features and pricing of the Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans here. You can upgrade your account to increase your submission limits any time.

You can customize every aspect of your petition in seconds with Jotform’s intuitive form builder. Drag and drop elements to rearrange the layout, add or remove sections, change the fonts, and update the colors. You can also upload a background image, add your logo, include videos and images, and more to make your petition more visually engaging. 

Sharing your petition is easy with Jotform. You can share it through a direct link, post it on social media, send it out via email, or embed it on your website. Jotform can also automatically generate a QR code for your petition, offering another creative way to distribute your petition link for quick access via smartphones.

You can track all submissions and signatures in real-time with Jotform Tables and our free analytics tools. Monitor how many signatures you’ve collected, analyze traffic, and review submission details. You can also connect your forms to third-party apps and widgets like Google Analytics for additional insights.

Jotform employs advanced security protocols to protect your petition data, including a 256-bit SSL connection, GDPR compliance, and CCPA compliance. The addition of CAPTCHA authentication helps ensure signers are genuine to minimize fraudulent entries and spam. 

Of course! Jotform makes it easy to embed your petition on your website or add it to your social media page — no coding necessary. Copy and paste the automatically generated JavaScript code snippet into your website HTML. You can also share the petition in a pop-up window that appears when someone visits your web page. You can share the link in your social media profiles, or embed it directly on 40-plus third-party services like Facebook and WordPress. This seamless integration ensures supporters can access your petition wherever they find your cause.

Yes, every form created with Jotform works on mobile devices. Your petition will display perfectly on any smartphone or tablet automatically without any additional formatting. The mobile-friendly design makes it easy for anyone to sign and share your petition no matter where they are.

You can download and export your submission data as a CSV file, Excel spreadsheet, or PDF document for easy offline storage or sharing. Download all submissions into one file, or choose specific submissions by selecting them in Jotform Tables. It’s easy to filter submissions, so you can download the exact data you need. 

Best practices for online petitions include keeping your petition form concise and informative. Start with a specific goal you aim to accomplish to ensure supporters understand your objective and feel motivated to participate. Craft a compelling yet succinct description of the issue, its impact, and why immediate action is necessary. Follow up by providing clear instructions and a call to action that encourages people to sign. 

Engage signers by sharing why their voice matters, and make it easy for them to share your petition so they can help spread the word. Only request essential information from signers to help encourage more signatures while also respecting their privacy. Once they’ve signed the petition, send a thank-you message and provide information on how they can stay involved or take further action. Don’t forget to regularly update supporters on the progress of the petition and celebrate milestones so they can see the impact of their actions.

Jotform’s online form builder is extremely user-friendly and doesn’t require any coding knowledge. Drag and drop different elements to customize your petition form in a matter of seconds. Update the layout, content, and design, and create a professional-looking petition that’s ready to post and share online.  

Jotform offers social media integrations that make it easy to share links to your petition on Facebook, WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and more with just a couple of clicks. You can also embed your petition on your Facebook page and include links for supporters to share the petition on their pages and follow your cause on social media. 

Tracking performance is simple with Jotform’s built-in Form Analytics and third-party widgets like Google Analytics. Monitor conversion rates, traffic, and data points like responders’ IP addresses, response dates, how long they spent navigating your form, their location, and the type of device they used.