we present to you NationBuilder, the American software used by many candidates to campaign

Do you know what unites Eric Zemmour, Fabien Roussel, Anne Hidalgo and Yannick Jadot? Whether they are on the left or on the far right, all these presidential candidates use the services of NationBuilder to organize their digital campaign. This American company, which has already worked with the teams of Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2017, offers associations and political parties around the world an “all-in-one” solution to optimize their online presence and recruit forces. alive on the ground. Franceinfo presents this actor almost invisible to the general public, but omnipresent during this election.

Created in 2009, NationBuilder provides its customers with software called CMS (Content Management System) in digital jargon. Specifically adapted to citizen mobilization, this content management tool offers several features. First, it allows you to quickly build a campaign site, where almost every page is dedicated to recruiting new vital forces.

In addition to the traditional programs, the sites of Eric Zemmour, Anne Hidalgo, Fabien Roussel or Yannick Jadot systematically offer Internet users “to act” by registering for an upcoming meeting, a newsletter, a campaign event near them or even making a donation. With, of course, the possibility of letting their loved ones know about it on social networks with the aim that they imitate them.

Sometimes added to a pre-existing file of party members, the contact details of curious “recruits” on the internet swell a database gathering the information available on sympathizers. NationBuilder then offers teams of candidates to manage the sending of text messages and emails to activists in a very fine way.

“If someone has told us that they are particularly interested in topics related to ecology, we can send them specific campaign content that focuses on this issue”details Julia Castanier, communication director of the communist Fabien Roussel.

“When we organize a meeting in Valenciennes, we can make sure with NationBuilder that we only contact people who have indicated that they live within a radius of 100 km from the city, and not Marseille activists for example.

Julia Castanier, communications director at Fabien Roussel

at franceinfo

The software also makes it possible to automate certain tasks. A curious person has just subscribed to your champion’s newsletter? You can program NationBuilder to instantly send them a thank you email signed by the candidate, then wait 48 hours before sending them another email, this time inviting them to join an upcoming meeting of local activists. The American company’s software finally offers the possibility of connecting to additional applications, such as Qomon, to organize leaflet distribution or door-to-door sessions.

The “all-in-one” solution has won over organizations around the world. In Australia, a refugee-support NGO recently used the platform to raise more than $250,000 in a week, while the marriage-for-alls camp used it to mobilize its troops in Switzerland. NationBuilder also sold its services in the United States for Donald Trump’s digital campaign in 2016. The same year, in the United Kingdom, during the fierce struggle of Brexit, the camp of “leave” like that of “remain” have also used the company’s services. Contacted by franceinfo, a spokesperson for the company insists on the aspect “apolitical” of his tool.

“We have been a non-partisan platform since day one. We are a software company, not a consultancy, we offer the same service to everyone.”

A NationBuilder spokesperson

at franceinfo

Thirteen years after its creation, the NationBuilder machine is well run and allows, in just a few days if necessary, to lay the foundations of a digital campaign. Eric Zemmour’s team made no mistake. “We would have preferred to use a French service, but there is nothing that allows us to do what NationBuilder offers”replies Samuel Lafont, in charge of the digital strategy of Eric Zemmour’s campaign, when Point pointed out to him that the choice to call on an American company may seem paradoxical when one wants to be the embodiment of “French reconquest”.

However, this effective solution comes at a cost. In 2017, Emmanuel Macron’s camp had spent around 48,000 euros for six months of using the software, after obtaining a commercial discount of 20,000 euros, as revealed at the time by the investigation cell of Radio France. To save themselves such expenses, the teams of the outgoing president like those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not wish to join the American company this time. To justify this approach, La République en Marche soberly indicates to franceinfo that it has “simply made the choice to develop [ses] own tools” for the ballot, just like La France insoumise, which has worked since 2017 on the development of Popular Action, its “house” social network.

“In 2017, we were using NationBuilder, but we needed to ‘hack’ it [pirater] a bit to make it work as we wantedexplains Jill-Maud Royer, head of digital tools for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s campaign. In particular, the function allowing the creation of events had been diverted to give activists the possibility of creating local groups themselves, without validation by the movement. We therefore developed Popular Action to give it a form of horizontality specific to La France insoumise.

The teams of the rebellious candidate also highlight the question of respect for personal data and say they have favored a solution allowing them to host their data in France, rather than on the servers of the American company. An argument also put forward by the camp of Fabien Roussel, who is considering no longer using NationBuilder in the coming months. This specifies to franceinfo that the database containing the personal information of the activists that NationBuilder operates is based in France. Asked about this, a company spokesperson said that “NationBuilder is fully compliant” to the European regulation on data protection, and ensures that its customers are the only ones who can access the electoral data collected.