Cc
Change Congress
Organization Charter
Purpose: To bring about massive change in the way outside corporate interests affect US members of Congress and legislative bills by demanding members of Congress commit to supporting public financing of all elections, voting to ban the use of earmarks and refusing to accept money or rewards from lobbyists or Political Action Committees. Be it through rewarding "do-gooders" or taxing the "bad apples" the goal is to create energy and finances to influence Congress and forever change the way Washington works.
Objective: To create an organization that pressures and works with Congresspeople to take the Change Congress pledge. At the same time CC will be reliant on the power of citizens and voters all over the country. This effort is about bringing in people and empowering them to reward those members of Congress that take the pledge, while challenging those that continue with the corrupt politics as usual.
Process: The goal is to create an organization that will empower ordinary people to join us in changing the way Washington works. Through mobilizing thousands of people nationwide to support this goal, we can begin putting our money where our mouth is and supporting candidates that adhere to the pledge and directly impacting elections around the country.
First Six Months The focus will be on two goals: (1) bringing on the 35 or so MOC who have already signed similar pledges dealing with supporting public finance, banning earmarks or refusing money from PACs/lobbyists. (2) building a grassroots network of support that will depend on existing local activist/political networks AND the tools to support this burgeoning group of supporters.
There will be different elements going on at the same time however. For instance, working with potential challengers who want to run their inaugural campaigns by joining the Change Congress pledge. Continuing to push candidates who have committed to only a portion of the pledge to commit to other elements of it. Equally important will be actively reaching out to organizations/individuals who are currently working on these issues and to reveal ways we can work together.
The third rail of our first six months should be fundraising. Change Congress will need to raise at least $250,000 over the first 10 months to support staff, consultants and possible media buys. Based off of current fundraising potential, with Andreissen's match offer, we feel confident being able to raise the needed money. However, if Change Congress begins to financially support candidates at the local level nationwide, we will have to dedicate more effort to solidifying substantial funds.
The 35 A key first step in getting the ball rolling in the first six months is bringing on board the 35(?) or so MOC who already have pledged support for similar issues. There are some benefits: - These MOC have already signed or pledged to similar goals - we're not asking them to do anything they haven't already done. - Change Congress is a growing grassroots network that depends on a mobilized and energetic base of support fighting for change from the bottom up. - The issues that Change Congress are founded on are fueling the current political debate and are drawing thousands of new people into the process.
There are also some potential hurdles: - Getting support from sitting MOC to an organization that does not wield particular power or financial influence. - Explaining the difference between Change Congress and other similar organizations/efforts. - Cutting through the existing campaign hype.
Expenses
Bare bones - $25,000/month
Start with $250,000 will give us about a year of functional seed money. This will include one to two staffers plus additional support for web development and growth. Again, this is just to get the ball rolling. As the money comes in we will begin to expand.
Grassroots fundraising: small-dollar fundraising always depends on the more people we can plug into the movement. Generally, we can assume that about 10% of active members will donate. So if we have 5,000 new members in the first month, we could probably count on 500 of them giving, on average, $100. This works out to $5,000 first month. As long as we continue to grow and gain grassroots support we can continue to count on small dollar donations. Keeping in mind that as August begins the Presidential races will begin to absorb, again, much more of the available money out there among politically minded folks.
$10,000 second month (1,000 donors)
$13,000 third month. (1,350 donors)
Annual goal: ~$80,000 from small donors
Funding
- Individual support
- Mitch Kapor
- Rappaport
- Swig
- Edwards
- Marc Andreesen
- Sandlers
- Bloomberg
Staff
- Political Director/Exec. Director
- Fundraising
- Web Developer(s)/Designer(s)
Key Events/Dates
March 20 1:30 - 3:00 PM - Sunlight Foundation sponsored address @ The National Press Club in D.C.
This will serve as the Change Congress launch date. We should plan to have a massive roll out including completed website, interviews, meetings with Congressional reps and non-profits, sign on support from key people.
Goals
Building the movement
Lessig goes around the country giving speeches. (Perhaps later we train (ala Gore) a bunch of other people to give the speech.)
We have a PR team try to get this issue into the press.
We have movement members pressure the media to cover these issues.
We have a blogger outreach team ask bloggers to support us or at least discuss us.
We build Facebook applications and blog widgets to spread the word virally.
We ask people to write their friends and ask them to join the movement.
We get Congresspeople to put our widgets on their sites.
We ask movement members to do campaign-type stuff: put up Change Congress yard signs, leaflet their neighborhood, go door-to-door, raise money to run ads.
Using the movement
We ask members to send money to good candidates (ala EMILY's List).
We ask members to track local politicians and highlight their more egregious actions.
We ask members to push politicians to sign the pledge (e.g. thru letterwriting and calling campaigns).
We have a Hall of Shame for the worst people. We go after their funders, we run ads and campaign-style stuff against them, we follow them asking questions at every event, perhaps we even run candidates opposing them.
We run citizen candidates to promote the movement.
Resources
Open Secrets: http://www.opensecrets.org/pubs/history/history4.html
Calfornia's tough campaign finance law of 1893: The Purity of Elections Act - limited campaign expenditures to a certain percentage of the salary of the office being sought. - forbade transfers of campaign money from one candidate to another. - banned independent expenditures - required elected officials who failed to comply with strict disclosure requirements to forfeit their office.
However, in 1896 and 1901 the California Supreme Court gutted the Act by making it inapplicable to primary elections and striking down key disclosure provisions. The Legislature finally repealed the Act in 1907 and made sure that subsequent legislation during the next half century was impotent and non-threatening.
From David Broder, Campaign Money: Reform and Reality in the States: "There is documentation in virtually every [instance] of the predominant role of lobbies and special-interest groups in campaign funding, especially of legislative races. If there is any safe axiom in American politics, it is that our legislators get the funds with which they run from the very people who have the greatest direct stake in the legislation they will pass. The arrangements are not subtle . . . . the difference between a contribution and a bribe becomes so blurred as to be almost invisible."