Case Study: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) achieves control over data security, privacy, and cost‑effective mass mobilization with CiviCRM

Digital Civil Liberties Advocates Get Control Over Data Security and Privacy by Switching to CiviCRM

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the leading organization defending civil liberties in the digital world and needed a CRM that gave them full control over constituent data, security, and the flexibility to customize for high traffic spikes and complex membership and fundraising workflows. After evaluating alternatives, EFF chose CiviCRM as a self‑hosted, open‑source solution to meet privacy and technical control requirements while supporting advanced website design and large‑scale advocacy campaigns.

Using CiviCRM, EFF gained the ability to modify and extend the system, improve data security (no stored plaintext passwords and enforced HTTPS), and lower membership program costs so more funds go to programs. CiviCRM also made it easy to import diverse datasets and power mass mobilizations — EFF mobilized hundreds of thousands of people and, on one campaign, sent over 1 million emails to Congress while balancing traffic across 10 rented servers — demonstrating clear scalability and measurable advocacy impact.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

Kellie Brownell

Donor Relations Coordinator