The Proton Lifetime Account Charity Fundraiser is back. Every ticket sold helps fund organizations that protect privacy, defend free speech, and fight for human rights online.
Since 2018, our community has raised over $4 million in direct grants to more than 40 organizations around the world. The funds — generated through raffles, auctions, and Proton’s own contributions — go directly to groups you nominate and vote to support.
The eighth edition launches today. You can now enter to win one of 10 Proton Lifetime Accounts, our most exclusive plan that unlocks every Proton product. Forever.
All proceeds will be donated to organizations you helped us select, and the Proton Foundation will contribute an additional $200,000 in matching funds.
Raffle tickets are available until January 5, 2026, and the winning tickets will be announced the next day on our blog while winners will be contacted via email.
What is a Proton Lifetime Account?
A Lifetime Account includes every feature on every current and future Proton service, plus the highest available storage. It’s the rarest plan we offer — unavailable for purchase and only obtainable through this fundraiser.
Lifetime Accounts are transferable, and Proton can help facilitate transfers. In past years, they’ve sold on the secondary market for up to $15,000.
As Proton expands, the value of a Lifetime Account grows with it. This year alone, we’ve launched new features in Proton Mail, Drive, and Pass. In July, we even launched Lumo, a separate subscription built to challenge the data-collection-first model that dominates today’s AI industry.
Supporting digital freedom, one grant at a time
In November, we invited the Proton community to nominate organizations for this year’s fundraiser. After reviewing the submissions, we selected 10 beneficiaries whose work reflects our shared goal of a private, secure, and open internet.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
| Organization | Description |
|---|---|
 European Digital Rights (EDRi)(new window) | European Digital Rights (EDRi) is a leading Brussels-based network of NGOs, experts, advocates, and academics working to defend and advance digital rights, such as privacy, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination, across Europe. It coordinates 40+ members and advocates to influence EU and national laws on surveillance, AI, platform regulation, and other core digital rights issues. |
 Société Numérique (Digitale Gessellschaft)(new window) | Société Numérique (Digitale Gesellschaft) is a Swiss nonprofit founded in 2011, advocating for civil rights, consumer protection, and digital self-determination. With over 1,000 members and 100 volunteers, it critiques surveillance tech, opposes risky e-health dossiers and platform regulations lacking teeth, and pushes for digital sovereignty via open-source public infrastructure. |
 NLnet Foundation(new window) | NLnet is an independent nonprofit foundation that supports an open, secure internet. Founded in 1982, NLnet helped bring the internet to Europe and build early public network infrastructure. Since 1997, it has focused on advancing internet freedom, privacy, and security. NLnet funds and advises independent developers and organizations working on shared digital infrastructure. It provides microgrants, expertise, and access to a global network, with all supported work released as free and open-source software. |
 Witness Org(new window) | WITNESS is a global human rights organization that helps people use video to document truth, defend rights, and hold power accountable in an era increasingly shaped by AI. Working across five continents, WITNESS equips activists, journalists, and fact-checkers with the tools, skills, and strategies needed to verify video, counter manipulated media, and protect critical voices. Its work spans training thousands directly, reaching millions through open resources, and shaping policies and technologies that affect billions. |
 Hack Club(new window) | Hack Club is a global nonprofit that empowers young people to learn coding by building real things. Founded in 2014, Hack Club helps high school students become creators, not just consumers of technology. Through hands-on projects, weekly clubs, hackathons, and open-source collaboration, students learn by making — writing real code from day one rather than following abstract lessons. Hack Club supports a worldwide network of 70,000+ students across 1,000+ clubs in more than 22 countries. It provides free tools, workshops, and a large peer-driven community where young makers collaborate, get help, and share what they build. At its core, Hack Club fosters a creative, inclusive “hacker ethic” grounded in curiosity, experimentation, and community. |
 Center for Humane Technology(new window) | The Center for Humane Technology (CHT) is an independent nonprofit working to realign technology with human well-being. Founded in 2018 by Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Randima Fernando, CHT grew out of the “Time Well Spent” movement, which exposed the harms of attention-driven design in social media. As technology evolved, CHT expanded its focus to address the growing societal risks posed by generative AI and other consequential technologies. CHT analyzes the incentives that shape modern tech systems and develops interventions to reduce harm, inform public debate, and influence policy. Its work raises awareness, drives accountability, and helps ensure technology strengthens — rather than erodes — what makes us human. |
 Transparency International(new window) | Transparency International is a global anti-corruption coalition working to expose corruption and hold power to account. Operating through a central secretariat in Berlin and more than 100 national chapters worldwide, Transparency International combines research, advocacy, and campaigning to push for government transparency and stronger anti-corruption laws. It investigates how corruption operates, promotes accountability across public and private sectors, and builds international coalitions to change entrenched systems. Its work advances social and economic justice, human rights, and democratic accountability worldwide. |
 Lighthouse Reports(new window) | Lighthouse Reports is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization that produces in-depth, cross-border investigations in the public interest. Based in Europe and working globally, Lighthouse combines traditional reporting methods — such as freedom of information requests — with data journalism, open-source intelligence, and visual forensics. Its investigations often focus on human rights, corruption, environmental harm, and technical surveillance. Lighthouse creates collaborative reporting spaces where freelance journalists, local outlets, and global media organizations work together on complex stories designed to inform the public and challenge dominant narratives. |
 Open Markets Institute(new window) | The Open Markets Institute is an independent nonprofit that works to counter monopolization and strengthen democracy through competition policy. Founded in 2017, Open Markets uses research, journalism, and legal analysis to expose the harms of concentrated corporate power and advance policies that promote open, competitive markets. Its work focuses in particular on the growing influence of digital platform monopolies and their impact on the free exchange of information. By combining expertise in law, economics, and market structure with public advocacy and coalition-building, Open Markets helps shape policy, enforcement, and legal outcomes at national and international levels — aiming to build more just, innovative, and resilient economies where power is more widely shared. |
 The Insider(new window) | The Insider is an independent investigative journalism outlet specializing in fact-checking, political analysis, and exposing state-backed corruption and disinformation. Founded in 2013, The Insider operates with an international editorial team and publishes in both Russian and English across websites, social platforms, and video channels. Its reporting is widely known for uncovering Russian intelligence operations, including poisonings, espionage networks, and information warfare, often in collaboration with international media partners. The Insider’s investigations have received major international recognition, including awards from the Council of Europe, the European Press Prize, and top honors for investigative films, including an Emmy, an Oscar, and a BAFTA. Reader donations are a key source of support for its independent journalism. |
A portion of this year’s funds will also go to past beneficiaries continuing to advance privacy and digital rights globally. You can view all previous recipients on Proton’s impact page. Last year, we also allocated money for a Proton Innovation Fund to support independent projects advancing privacy and digital rights, and will begin accepting applications in 2026.
When the winning raffle tickets are announced on January 6, we’ll also publish the total raised, including the $200,000 in matching funds from the Proton Foundation.
Last year, the community raised $1,077,470. With your support, we can go even further this year and create an even bigger impact.
How to participate
Tickets cost $10 each and are available through the Proton Shop. You can buy as many as you like — every ticket helps fund projects that make the internet safer for everyone.
Ten winners will be randomly selected on January 6, 2026.
New this year: Proton Lifetime Social Contest
We’re also giving away an 11th Proton Lifetime Account this year through our Proton Lifetime Social Contest.
You can enter for free by completing simple social actions (like following Proton’s social accounts, sharing posts, downloading mobile apps, etc.). This contest runs alongside the Proton Lifetime Charity Raffle, ensuring everyone — including those who can’t purchase raffle tickets — still has a chance to win and enjoy Proton’s privacy-by-default ecosystem forever.
We recommend accessing the contest on your mobile device through the link or by scanning the QR code below, as some optional actions require downloading apps on iOS or Android.
Important dates
Mark your Proton Calendars!
- Raffle & Contest open: December 18, 2025
- Raffle & Contest close: January 5, 2026 at 11:59pm CET | 2:59 PM PST | 5:59 PM EST
- Winners announced: January 6, 2026
Read the terms and conditions(new window) and FAQ(new window) for details about the fundraiser raffle and social media contest.
Why your support matters
The Proton community has helped fund privacy watchdogs, open-source developers, and journalists in some of the world’s toughest environments. These organizations keep encryption strong, challenge surveillance, and protect the right to communicate freely.
Every contribution moves us closer to a future where privacy is the default, not the exception.
Join the 2025 Proton Lifetime Fundraiser(new window) and help fund the next chapter of digital freedom.