Changemaker Lite
A self-hosted campaign platform for community organizers who want to own their data.
Documentation ·
Website ·
Apache 2.0 License
---
Changemaker Lite consolidates advocacy campaigns, geographic mapping, volunteer canvassing, media management, newsletters, and administration into a single Docker Compose stack. One `.env` file, one command to start, everything under your control.
## Why Changemaker Lite?
Most campaign tools are SaaS platforms that lock you into monthly subscriptions, hold your data hostage, and disappear when funding dries up. Changemaker Lite is different:
- **Self-hosted** -- runs on any machine with Docker. Your server, your data.
- **All-in-one** -- replaces 5-10 separate tools with a single integrated platform.
- **Free and open source** -- Apache 2.0 licensed. Fork it, modify it, make it yours.
- **Privacy-first** -- no telemetry, no third-party analytics, no data leaving your server.
## What's Inside
### Advocacy Campaigns
Let supporters look up their elected representatives by postal code and send advocacy emails in a few clicks. Track responses, moderate a public response wall, and monitor email delivery.
### Interactive Map & Canvassing
Import thousands of addresses, draw canvassing areas, schedule volunteer shifts, and track door-to-door visits with GPS. Volunteers get a full-screen mobile map with real-time location tracking and visit recording.
### Volunteer Portal
Volunteers get their own portal with shift sign-ups, canvassing assignments, activity tracking, a social calendar, and a friends system to stay connected with their team.
### Media Library & Public Gallery
Upload campaign videos, manage metadata, schedule publishing, and share them through a public gallery. Includes GDPR-compliant analytics.
### Landing Pages & Email Templates
Build campaign microsites with a drag-and-drop GrapesJS editor. Design email templates for consistent campaign communications.
### SMS Campaigns, Newsletters & More
Send SMS campaigns via an Android bridge, sync subscribers to Listmonk for newsletters, recognize volunteers on a Wall of Fame leaderboard, and monitor everything with built-in Prometheus + Grafana observability.
## Quick Start
```bash
# One-command install (downloads pre-built images, runs config wizard)
curl -fsSL https://gitea.bnkops.com/admin/changemaker.lite/raw/branch/v2/scripts/install.sh | bash
cd ~/changemaker.lite
docker compose up -d
```
Or clone and build from source:
```bash
git clone changemaker.lite
cd changemaker.lite && git checkout v2
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env -- set passwords, JWT secrets, admin credentials
docker compose up -d v2-postgres redis api admin
docker compose exec api npx prisma migrate deploy
docker compose exec api npx prisma db seed
```
Then open **http://localhost:3000** and log in with the admin credentials from your `.env`.
## Documentation
**Full documentation is available at [cmlite.org/docs/getting-started](https://cmlite.org/docs/getting-started/).**
The docs site covers installation, configuration, all features, architecture details, production deployment with Pangolin tunnels, and troubleshooting. It is the authoritative and up-to-date reference for Changemaker Lite.
## Architecture at a Glance
| Layer | Technology |
|-------|-----------|
| API | Express.js + Prisma + PostgreSQL 16 |
| Media API | Fastify + Prisma (shared DB) |
| Frontend | React + Vite + Ant Design + Zustand |
| Reverse Proxy | Nginx (subdomain routing) |
| Cache & Queue | Redis + BullMQ |
| Newsletter | Listmonk |
| Monitoring | Prometheus + Grafana + Alertmanager |
| Tunneling | Pangolin (self-hosted Cloudflare alternative) |
The entire stack runs on Docker Compose. Enable optional modules (media, newsletters, SMS, monitoring) with feature flags in `.env`.
## License
[Apache License 2.0](https://opensource.org/license/apache-2-0)
## AI Disclaimer
AI tools were used to assist in the creation of this project. All generated code has been reviewed. Users should test all functionality to ensure it meets their requirements.