{{Short description|Privately owned voter database and web hosting service provider}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox company | name = NGP VAN, Inc. | logo = File:NGPVAN Logo.svg | logo_size = 250px | type = Private | industry = Voter databases. IT Consulting, Software as a service, Web hosting service, Online fundraising, new media technology | founder = Mark Sullivan, Nathaniel Pearlman | location_city = Washington, DC, United States | area_served = United States | key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Chelsea Peterson Thompson (General Manager)|Alex Stanton (Chief Operating Officer/COO)|Lou Levine (Senior vice-president|SVP of Customer Strategy)}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ngpvan.com/about/ |title= About NGP VAN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217192551/https://www.ngpvan.com/about/ |archive-date=February 17, 2025 | url-status=live}}</ref> | revenue = {{increase}} US$ 28.9m <small>(2016)</small><ref name=inc>{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/ngp-van|title=NGP VAN – Washington, DC|work=The Inc.5000|access-date=January 8, 2012|archive-date=December 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229041039/http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/ngp-van|url-status=dead}}</ref> | num_employees = {{increase}} 190 <small>(2016)</small><ref name=inc/> | divisions = Fundraising/Compliance<br />Organizing<br />Digital<br />Non-Profits | parent = {{Unbulleted list |Bonterra<ref>{{cite news |last=Goldmacher |first=Shane |date=March 1, 2025 |title=Inside the Democratic Disaster That Didn't Happen in November |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/us/politics/democrats-voter-data.html |work=New York Times |access-date=March 24, 2025 |quote=NGP VAN was purchased as part of a $2 billion deal in 2021 by a private equity firm, Apax Partners, which created a subsidiary called Bonterra that now oversees the company.}}</ref> |Apax Partners<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/05/democrats-ngp-van-collapse-00120184 |title=Democrats panic about turmoil in their top tech company |website=Politico |date=5 October 2023 }}</ref>}} | homepage = {{URL|www.ngpvan.com|ngpvan.com}} }} '''NGP VAN, Inc.''' is an American privately owned voter database and web hosting service provider used by the Democratic Party, Democratic campaigns, and other non-profit organizations authorized by the Democratic Party. The platform or service is used by political and social campaigns for fundraising, campaign finance compliance, field organizing, and digital organizing. NGP VAN, Inc. was formerly known as Voter Activation Network, Inc. and changed its name to NGP VAN, Inc. in January 2011. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Washington, D.C.
In 2009, the company was the largest partisan provider of campaign compliance software, used by most Democratic members of Congress.<ref name="politico">{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/09/suite-talk-sept-15-2009-027142 | title = Suite Talk |date=September 15, 2009 |author= Becca Milfeld and Anne Marson |work=POLITICO.com}}</ref> The company's services have been utilized by clients such as the Obama 2008 presidential campaign, the Obama 2012 presidential campaign,<ref name="obama_spend">{{cite web | url=http://ihartpolitics.com/?p=183 | title = Where does Obama's Money Go? |work= iHartPolitics.com}}</ref> the Hillary Rodham Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign, the British Liberal Democrats,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.markpack.org.uk/tag/connect/|title=Connect Archives|website=Mark Pack|date=November 2020 }}</ref> and the Liberal Party of Canada.
The company was acquired by London-based private equity firm Apax Partners in 2021 and conducted layoffs in 2023.<ref name=":2" /> Persistent technical issues have led to concerns from workers and the Democratic party that NGP VAN may be unable or unwilling to meet their needs.<ref name=":0" /> In the lead-up to the 2024 elections significant problems with the NGP VAN system led the Kamala Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to intervene by sending full time technical staff to keep it afloat through the election.<ref name=":1" />
==History== NGP VAN was created in November 2010 by the merger of its two predecessor companies: '''NGP Software''' (founded in 1997 by Nathaniel Pearlman, who later served as chief technology officer for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign,<ref name="Nathaniel Pearlman LinkedIn">{{cite web | url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielpearlman | title = LinkedIn: Nathaniel Pearlman }}</ref> in his attic in Washington, DC), and '''Voter Activation Network''' (founded in 2001 by Mark Sullivan, in his study in Cambridge, Massachusetts).<ref name="Personal democracy forum">{{cite web | url=http://personaldemocracy.com/company-reviews-2010/voter-activation-network | title = VAN:Personal Democracy Forum |date=July 5, 2010 }}</ref>
In October 2014, NGP VAN launched their EveryAction fundraising management platform for non-profits.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Trevelyan|first1=Stu|title=Make EveryAction Count|url=https://blog.everyaction.com/make-everyaction-count|website=EveryAction.com|accessdate=12 December 2017|language=en}}</ref>
There are occasional accusations that the Democratic Party has restricted access to Votebuilder to hold off a challenge to an incumbent office holder in a primary. For example, Rachel Ventura, running against an incumbent Democrat in IL-11, was told "I've heard from our Executive Director. Your request for ''Votebuilder'' for Illinois' 11th Congressional District through the Democratic Party of Illinois has been denied due to our regulations that we don't issue subscriptions to candidates challenging an incumbent."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://crooksandliars.com/2019/09/dnc-dccc-are-always-eager-cede-moral-high|title=Progressive Primary Challengers Hold The Moral High Ground|first=Howie|last=Klein|website=Crooks and Liars}}</ref>
In 2019, the company made three acquisitions; ActionKit, BSD Tools from Blue State Digital, and DonorTrends.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/finance/everyaction-buys-acquires-tools-from-blue-state-digital/|title=EveryAction Makes Third Deal, Acquires Tools From Blue State Digital|website=The NonProfit Times|language=en|access-date=2019-12-01}}</ref>
In 2021, NGP VAN's parent company, EveryAction, Inc., was acquired by London-based private equity firm Apax Partners.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-03/apax-merges-software-firms-for-non-profits-in-2-billion-deal|title=Apax Merges Software Firms for Non-Profits in $2 Billion Deal|website=Bloomberg|date=3 August 2021 |language=en|access-date=2021-08-04}}</ref> The company also named Amanda Coulombe President of NGP VAN.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-30 |title=Tweet from @NGPVAN about appointment of Amanda Coulombe |url=https://twitter.com/ngpvan/status/1333474625817169920 |access-date=2021-12-09 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref> In January 2023, the company laid off 10% of their workforce.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lacy |first=Akela |date=2023-01-24 |title=Inside the Slow Implosion of the Democratic Party's Vaunted Campaign Tech Firm |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/01/24/layoffs-democratic-party-ngp-van/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}</ref> The Intercept reported that employees and Democratic strategists worried NGP VAN was prioritizing profits over the needs of the Democratic Party, which the company has an effective monopoly over.<ref name=":0" /> A second round of layoffs was conducted on September 6, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lacy |first=Akela |date=2023-10-05 |title=As 2024 Looms, Democrats' Campaign Tech Crumbles Under Private Equity Squeeze |url=https://theintercept.com/2023/10/05/democrats-campaign-tech-layoffs-2024-bonterra-ngp-van-actionkit/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}</ref>
In early 2023, an internal Democratic National Committee (DNC) memo expressed concern that NGP VAN's system was "inflexible, slow and unreliable, particularly during periods of peak use."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Goldmacher |first=Shane |date=2025-03-01 |title=The Democratic Party Reconsiders a Huge, Vulnerable Database of Voter Information |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/us/politics/democrats-voter-data.html |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In early 2024 the DNC privately considered invoking a clause in its agreement with NGP VAN to access the system's source code and change providers, but chose not to. After Kamala Harris became the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, NGP VAN warned her campaign that their canvassing software was not prepared to meet the campaign's needs. In the summer of 2024, technical problems with NGP VAN's systems grew so severe that the campaign and the DNC sent full time engineering staff to the company for months to help keep the system operational through the election. Democratic financier Allen Blue funded an emergency operation to allow the system to keep up with the large amounts of data moving through the system.<ref name=":1" />
==Products== '''MiniVAN''' – A mobile canvassing application that allows for campaigns and organizations to contact voters or supporters, collect data, and sync the information back to their VAN or EveryAction database in real time.<ref>[http://www.fox21online.com/2016/03/02/minivan-app-computes-on-the-campaign-trail/38290498/ MiniVAN App Computes On The Campaign Trail – App Provides Names, Gender, Addresses Of Registered Voters] by Graham Hakala for KQDS-TV; March 2, 2016</ref> 71% of progressive voter contact attempts were made on MiniVAN instead of paper lists in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blog.ngpvan.com/2018-takeaways|title=Organize Everywhere: How Technology Powered Grassroots Engagement in 2018|last=Coulombe|first=Amanda|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/story/2018-midterms-democrats-mobile-canvassing-records/|title=Democrats Are Busting Their 2016 Mobile Canvassing Records|magazine=WIRED|access-date=2018-11-20|language=en-US}}</ref>
'''VoteBuilder''' – A web-based service used by the Democratic Party and associated campaigns to track interactions with potential voters. Votebuilder stores information like phone calls and other methods of contact with voters in the system. It is used as part of campaign voter persuasion and "get out the vote" operations. The software was created in 2006 to bridge a perceived gap in microtargeting abilities between the Republican and Democratic parties.<ref name="NYTimesGap">{{Cite news |last=Wayne |first=Leslie |date=2008-11-01 |title=Democrats Take Page From Their Rival's Playbook |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/us/politics/01target.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
On Wednesday, December 16, 2015, NGP VAN released a code update to their Votebuilder application which contained a bug that allowed two campaigns to see proprietary analytical scores. On the evening of Thursday, December 17 the DNC revoked the Sanders campaign's access to the national voter file, after the campaign accessed and saved data collected by the Clinton campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@AmyKDacey/here-s-what-happened-with-ngp-van-the-sanders-campaign-and-the-clinton-campaign-d75dd1d2edbf#.vyswby7ib|title=Here's what happened with NGP VAN, the Sanders Campaign, and the Clinton Campaign|author=Amy Dacey|work=Medium|date=19 December 2015 }}</ref> The Sanders campaign sued the DNC in District Court and concurrently fired Josh Uretsky, the staffer who managed three other members of the Sanders campaign who improperly accessed the data. On December 19, the DNC restored the Sanders campaign's access after the campaign agreed to cooperate with their investigation.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/460361192/dnc-restores-sanders-campaigns-access-to-voter-files-after-data-breach|title = DNC Restores Sanders Campaign's Access to Voter Files After Data Breach: NPR|date = 19 December 2015|accessdate = 19 December 2015|website = |publisher = NPR|last = Taylor|first = Jessica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-threatens-to-sue-dnc-if-access-to-voter-list-isnt-restored/2015/12/18/fa8d6df8-a5a2-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html|title = Accord reached after Sanders sues the DNC over suspended access to critical voter list|date = 19 December 2015|accessdate = |newspaper = The Washington Post|publisher = |last = Wagner|first = John}}</ref><ref>[http://www.snopes.com/bernie-sanders-campaign-data-breach-controversy/ Steal the Bern – A brief campaign software glitch led to what the DNC said was improper access of records by Bernie Sanders' campaign.] by Kim LaCapria; ''Snopes'' April 30, 2016</ref>
'''NGP''' – A web-based service for digital engagement, fundraising, and compliance reporting used by most federal Democratic campaigns. NGP is also used by state legislatures and local campaigns. In August 2017, the company released NGP 8, an updated version of the service.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.campaignsandelections.com/campaign-insider/ngp-van-unveils-new-iteration-of-software-ahead-of-midterm-cycle|title=NGP VAN Unveils New Iteration Of Software Ahead of Midterm Cycle|access-date=2017-08-28|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://act.ngpvan.com/ngp8|title=NGP 8|last=VAN|first=NGP|website=act.ngpvan.com|language=en|access-date=2017-08-28}}</ref>
'''Innovation Platform''' – A series of APIs and integrations that was rolled out in 2014.<ref>[http://adage.com/article/campaign-trail/democratic-data-platform-opens-access-smaller-campaigns/304935/ Democrats' Data Platform Opens Access to Smaller Campaigns- NGP VAN Now Connects to Many Tech Partners] By Kate Kaye for AdAge; Published on July 13, 2016</ref> Several notable integrations include apps and services such as self-serve online advertising, broadcast and peer-to-peer text messaging tools, live calls, and do-it-yourself direct mail.<ref>[http://dspolitical.com/press-releases/voter-targeted-digital-ads-now-fingertips-thousands-democratic-campaigns/ Voter Targeted Digital Ads Now at Fingertips of Thousands of Democratic Campaigns] by DSPolitical; September 15, 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.speakeasypolitical.com/speakeasy-political-announces-data-partnership-with-ngp-van/ SpeakEasy Political Announces Data Partnership with NGP VAN] by Speakeasy Political; February 23, 2016</ref>
'''Mobilize''' – A web-based service for event management and volunteer recruitment that connects campaigns with supporters. Mobilize emerged from the 2016 election and grew to become a vital piece of Democratic and progressive tech infrastructure, before being acquired in 2021.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=NGP VAN Invests in Innovation With Acquisition of Mobilize |url=https://blog.ngpvan.com/mobilize-joins-everyaction |website=NGP VAN Blog |date=30 November 2020 |access-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>
'''ActionKit''' — A web-based service for mailing list management, fundraising, and online activism for political campaigns and advocacy organizations. ActionKit grew out of custom software initially developed for MoveOn before being acquired in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=VAN |first=NGP |date=2019-05-08 |title=EveryAction Acquires ActionKit |url=https://www.ngpvan.com/blog/everyaction-acquires-actionkit/ |access-date=2025-08-30 |website=NGP VAN |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://www.ngpvan.com/ NGP VAN]
Category:Political software Category:Privately held companies based in Washington, D.C. Category:Software companies based in Massachusetts Category:Software companies of the United States Category:Software companies based in Washington, D.C. Category:Voter databases Category:Web design companies Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions