All languages: Swedish English

A different company.
For a different society.

Zetkin is developed by Zetkin Foundation – a company that works not for profit, but to radically change society in a socialist, feminist, antiracist and sustainable direction. That makes Zetkin very special.

Zetkin Foundation is owned and democratically controlled by the members of The Left Party in Malmö. That means that Zetkin Foundation is a very special type of company.

By activists, for activists

From our everyday life as activists in Malmö’s progressive movement we bring with us experience, and most importantly, an attitude. An idea that we can bring about big change when we work together, even with small resoures. The strength of the left is our numbers.

That is why when we develop Zetkin, we do it using activist methods. Large portions of the work happens on a volunteer basis. Our board is a working collective, which makes it different from most company boards. We have constructed our organization around the premise that it should be as easy as possible to contribute according to one’s ability.

That means that we don’t just develop a tool for activists, we do it by being activists ourselves. Just like we’ve always been.

Change instead of profit

In the founding documents of Zetkin Foundation, the purpose is clear:

To work for radical change of society, in a socialist, feminist, antiracist and sustainable direction (translated).

Zetkin Foundation does not work for profit, but to achieve change. Money is a means to make our organization stable and sustainable, but it’s never the end goal.

The story behind Zetkin

The Zetkin we know today has been developed since 2015. But before then Zetkin was created in the Malmö branch of Swedish socialist party Vänsterpartiet ("The Left Party") as early as 2013. Read the story below.

  1. Summer 2013 – The meeting

    A programmer and an organizer get to know eachother through The Left Party in Malmö. This sparks the idea of a tool to improve organizing activism.

  2. Sep 2013 – Pilot study

    A pilot study is performed ahead of starting development, using Google Forms for campaign sign-up and spreadsheets for scheduling.

  3. Nov 30, 2013 – First line of code

    The first lines of code are written towards a system for signing up to campaigns. The project is named "Zetkin".

  4. Dec 2013 – First campaign

    Zetkin is used for the first time to sign activists up for the local christmas campaign.

  5. May 2014 – European elections

    Zetkin is rapidly developed thanks to contributions by several developers. The Left Party uses Zetkin in Malmö to organize a series of campaigns, culminating with the European election campaign in May. During the two weeks of on-the-ground campaigning, 200 activists participate thanks in large part to Zetkin.

  6. May 29, 2014 – Phone banking is born

    Four days after ballots are cast in the European election, work on a new tool for mobilizing over the phone is begins.

  7. Aug-Sep 2014 – National elections

    Using Zetkin's new tool for over-the-phone mobilization, more activists than ever participate in the Sep 2014 Swedish elections. Over the course of one month, The Left Party organizes more than 800 actions in Malmö, with historic 400 activists participating.

  8. Sep 27, 2014 – Survey tool

    Having realized the importance of Zetkin, ideas about more tools are spawned. To integrate the local member survey with Zetkin, work on a new Zetkin survey tool commences.

  9. Jan 11, 2015 – Deciding to distribute Zetkin

    The Malmö branch of The Left Party decides to distribute Zetkin to radical movements. To do so, a new version of Zetkin needs to be developed, and funds raised.

  10. Mar 2, 2015 – The first hackathon

    Following a wide invitation, ten programmers and other skilled people interested in developing Zetkin gather in Malmö, to discuss architecture, methods and goals for the new Zetkin. A few days later the first lines of code are written.

  11. Mar 30, 2015 – Zetkin Foundation founded

    Zetkin Foundation is founded and begins raising funds for the coming work.

  12. 12 September 2015 - "Vänsterdagarna"

    The new Zetkin organizer tool is presented at the Left Party conference "Vänsterdagarna" during three full sessions.

  13. Jan 2016 – Project year begins

    A year of focused development begins, funded by money raised during 2015 (and onwards through 2016).

  14. Jan 2017 – New Zetkin launches

    After more than a year in development, the new Zetkin sees light of day and rolls out across Sweden.

Contribute to Zetkin

Zetkin is developed in large part by volunteers. You can donate time or money to help contribute to the development of Zetkin.

Help fund Zetkin development Volunteer as a Zetkin developer