1. Is this a political party?
No. Not a party, not a PAC. Main Street Lobby is a membership lobby: people who pay $4.99 a year, rank the same six priorities, and have that ranking carried to Congress as one count. Republicans, Democrats, and independents welcome, on the same terms.
2. Is my $4.99 a donation?
No. It is a membership fee, and it is the whole ask. It buys you a vote on what we work on first, and, like all 501(c)(4) dues, it isn't tax-deductible.
3. What does five dollars actually do?
It makes the number one bigger. Washington doesn't count how many people agree with something; it counts how many of them are organized enough to be counted. Your membership adds one to that count, and your ranking helps set what the count is for.
4. Who picks the six issues?
Members rank them; the order is never ours to set. Members can also submit new issues any time. Every November the whole membership re-ranks the current priorities and votes on the submitted alternatives, so the slate itself is member-chosen over time.
5. Is this left or right?
Neither. Look at the list: secure borders and lower drug costs sit on the same ballot, next to term limits and a congressional stock-trading ban. It doesn't look like anybody's team because it isn't one. The only fight here is what we fix first.
6. Will you email or text me asking for money?
No. We will never email, text, direct mail, or send a drone to your home to ask you for more money. The only money emails you'll ever get are the boring ones: your receipt and the annual renewal reminder the law requires. Neither asks for a dime more.
7. Can I cancel?
Yes, anytime, from Manage Membership. Your membership stays active through the end of the year you paid for, and it simply doesn't renew.
8. What happens in November?
Every member re-ranks the six priorities and votes on the new issues members submitted during the year. Anything that outranks our lowest priority takes its spot for the year ahead. The top three after that poll are the Member Mandate for the next twelve months.
9. Where does the money go?
Running the organization: the platform, the research behind every ask, and carrying the Member Mandate to Congress. There are no donor tiers and no one can pay for a louder vote. When we act, we publish what happened, office by office.
10. Who is behind this?
Robert Malvin, the founder. Main Street Lobby, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. The longer story, and how the whole thing works, is on the About page.
11. Can you see how I voted?
Not by looking you up. Your rankings and votes are stored under a code, not your name, and the key that makes the code is kept separately from the member database, with our website host. In the database, rankings sit under codes and members under names, with nothing linking them. Results appear only in aggregate. Details in our Privacy Policy.
Still have one? Ask us, or read the longer story.