Dear Reader,
We’ve been asked this question many times since we were founded, “how is For All different than other lobbying groups?”
When we started in 2020, For All was our attempt to answer the question: “who at the State Capitol is working for regular Tennesseans?” We wanted to build something that truly worked for regular Tennesseans, not special interest groups, political parties, or wealthy donors.
Most lobbying groups we’ve interacted with operate according to this model: a small group of people at the top set an agenda, then they go to the public in an attempt to sell it. In this type of structure, the only feedback these organizations care about is whether or not you buy it.
In all honesty, when attempting to answer our original question, we couldn’t find any organization out there to emulate or improve on. As such, we had to innovate, and we have created an organization that is completely unique in this space.
Broadly, For All is dedicated to promoting policy that empowers people or limits government but without a top-down legislative agenda.
In a nutshell, we believe in two basic ideas:
- A small but passionate group in any given district can influence legislative outcomes
- Even across party lines, there are many issues where most people agree
Structurally, the core concept behind For All is the novel idea that the people that sustain the organization should be the ones steering. To that end, we built a system in which members of the organization vote on a range of issues, and what they approve becomes the organization’s legislative agenda every year.
Additionally, each issue is independent, so as a donor you can steer your money to exactly which issues matter most to you, and keep your dollars away from any issue you may not support.
Here’s a quick flowchart on how it works:
If you’re curious, you can find the members of the board and the advisors on our “about us” page.
If you agree with us, we invite you to become a member for a little as $5/month. The vote to approve our 2022 legislative agenda will be distributed to members who have donated at least $60 (the cost of a 1-year membership) before January 15th, 2022.
Consider setting up your membership today: