Can lobbying be a solution for our democracy?
If you looked at the name of our organization, Lobbyists 4 Good, and felt a bit skeptical, we understand. The word lobbying is so misunderstood that most Americans see lobbying as a problem in our democracy, not a potential solution to fix it.
Unfortunately, everyday people have little
influence on our political process. While grassroots advocacy groups are great at organizing protests and marches and phone call campaigns to Congress, their efforts are no match for the thousands of lobbyists that descend on Capitol Hill every day.
There are many public interest groups and nonprofits that lobby Congress; however, for every dollar they spend on lobbying, businesses and their associations spend $34. The largest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time.
Lobbyists 4 Good is the solution to this imbalance. Our crowdfunding platform enables everyday Americans to raise money through small donations and hire lobbyists to work on their behalf. Individuals submit lobbying campaign ideas on our website, and if they meet our Founding Principles, we host the campaigns on our platform. If a campaign meets its fundraising goal, we find and hire a lobbyist to work on the issue.
Our model has already proven successful. In 2017, our lobbying work led to a $2.5 million increase for the US Institute of Peace. Currently, we are lobbying on behalf of a woman from California to implement a pilot program that will reduce the impact Animal Agriculture has on the planet. Since Lobbyists 4 Good launched in 2016, over 50 individuals have started lobbying campaigns on our crowdfunding platform.
Please do explore the lobbying campaigns that courageous individuals have already started on our platform in order to get their voice heard in government or start a lobbying campaign of your own.
Billy DeLancey is the Co-founder and CEO of Lobbyists 4 Good.