MTA Affiliation Application

Move to Amend is a grassroots movement to amend the US Constitution to make clear corporations are not people with constitutional rights and money is not free speech. We have local organizations and representatives growing in communities across the country who are working to educate their local communities and elected officials, bring people together to join the movement, and mobilize their communities to pressure state and federal legislators to take action on the We the People Amendment.

Our grassroots leaders come from all walks of life in support of our mission to amend the Constitution! When several volunteers are ready to team up and represent Move to Amend locally, they will form an MTA Affiliate group. Not all MTA Affiliates get started the same way and sometimes it takes time, so the first step is to become a local Advocate and be the first to represent Move to Amend in your community!

If you're just getting started forming a MTA group, we encourage you to take a look at our "Five Easy Steps to Start a New Group" and related materials in the Affiliate Organizing Toolkit to get started.

What You Need to Know to Affiliate With Move to Amend

When you are ready to join Move to Amend, the first step is to become a local Advocate and be the first representative for Move to Amend in your community. When several volunteers are ready to team up to support our mission, they will form local Affiliate group to represent Move to Amend together as a coalition!

Move to Amend's grassroots activities fall into three main categories:

Education - Polling shows that 80% of American public agrees with us that corporations shouldn’t have same rights of human beings and campaign spending should be limited, but they don’t know about our campaign or how to do it. That's why we need to educate! We table at local events and go door-to-door with campaigns like We the People Listening Project to gather individual stories about their struggles with corporate rule. We write and publish letters to the editors of local and state news sources to highlight the destructive impacts of corporate rule in our daily lives. We organize public talks, teach-ins, and presentations to other groups connected the dots between current issues they care about and the nature of corporate rule.
Lobbying & Bird Dogging - We target candidates for local, state and federal office with questions at campaign forums, candidate surveys and letters to the editor to help raise awareness about Move to Amend and the We the People Amendment amongst candidates and the public at election time. We write, call, and visit our elected officials at their offices and in public events to support the We the People Amendment, and advancing the principles of participatory democracy. Ultimately, we need the 28th Amendment to be seen as a litmus test issue for whether people will vote for a candidate or incumbent official running for office.
Resolution & Ballot Campaigns - These serve as an organizing tool to mount pressure, which put state and federal representatives on notice that their constituencies want to see them pass the amendment. We have helped passed resolutions in over 800 towns, cities, and counties across the country calling for the 28th Amendment, including 20 state legislatures! We've been on the local and state ballot over 300 times -- in liberal and conservative communities alike -- and we have won every single time, usually in landslides of over 60% and even 80%!

All MTA Advocates are expected to work to build excitement at the local and state levels about being part of a larger movement, and about the process of movement building itself. All MTA Affiliates should strive to empower their members, and help them develop the skills they need to be effective. Move to Amend National staff will provide training and support through the Movement Education Program, our Take Action Webinars, and other resources for organizers of all experiences. In addition, we will provide information on locally available resources and trainings, and will assist local organizations in establishing channels of communication so that they can educate and support one another in their growth.

The Affiliation Process

The goals of this process are to assure that Move to Amend applicants understand:

The Move to Amend campaign, its goals, values and strategies
The criteria we expect them to fulfill as local representatives of Move to Amend
The resources available from the Move to Amend National Team to assist them in community organizing to fulfill the criteria.

Application Process

Before filling out the application, all applicants should have read these articles to be sure Move to Amend's principles and background are understood by everyone (affiliate applicants should be sure to have a group discussion about them):
After reading and/or discussing the articles as a group, please fill out the application and submit it to [email protected] for review by the National Move to Amend Team.

If you're applying to be an Advocate, please download the Advocate Memorandum Of Understanding and Advocate Application.

If you are applying to be an Affiliate group, please download the Affiliate Memorandum Of Understanding and the Affiliate Application.
(Please note that you will need a minimum of five members to start a Move to Amend Affiliate, as we've found that teams of less than five struggle to form an effective group. If you have less than five folks but still want to form an Affiliate, please contact us so we can discuss how to help you grow.)
We will then schedule an orientation conference call with applicants. This call will provide a chance for applicants to ask questions, and serve to establish shared goals, ideas and expectations. If you're an Affiliate, please plan to have as many of your group's leadership on this call as possible.
Upon approval by the National Team, applicants will be asked to return their signed Memorandum of Understanding within two weeks. The National Team will then create all affiliated social media, email, website and database accounts for the advocate/affiliate.

If you have any questions, please contact the Affiliate Support Team at [email protected] or call 916-318-8040.

Important Information

Support for Advocates & Affiliates Provided by Move to Amend National

Material generation for local organizing, national action and event opportunities
Web, telephone, and in-person conferencing/networking opportunities
A dedicated page on the MTA website for each group to serve as their official webpage
Access to Move to Amend petition signers within a group's geographic area
Database infrastructure to support local organizing and public engagement
Online and in-person training opportunities and strategy discussions
A @movetoamend.org email address for each group
Social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for each group (if your group wants to use social media)
Transparency on decisions made by the MTA National Board and Staff
Support and mentorship via telephone and email as much as possible within our resources

Affiliated members are also eligible to participate in national organizing work through our National Committees and Caucuses, provided those individuals meet requirements and expectations as outlined by the Committees.

Move to Amend Organizing Principles

Move to Amend is a national, non-partisan (not affiliated with any political party), grassroots coalition and welcomes engaging communities of people with diverse viewpoints. In our vision to make real the promise of democracy, Move to Amend adheres to the following Core Principles:

Anti-Oppression and Solidarity Organizing helps us develop relationships with those on the front lines of struggle against the impacts of corporate rule, including communities of color and other marginalized communities, our essential and immediate allies in the work ahead. Only through the talents, experience and wisdom of all persons is mutual governance and a system rooted in justice possible.
Coalition and Movement Building is integral to connecting numerous issue communities to the legal roadblocks of corporate constitutional rights and money as protected political speech. The power of a movement rests on the common ground, the shared vision and strategies, among its participant members and groups. That ground is the result of focused listening, learning, talking, and evaluating together.
Grassroots Organizing is the key to building capacity. Personal relationships are still the best way to spread our message and find support. Deep change takes root from below and is nurtured by the life and community around it. That nurturing is delivered through the arts and skills of local democratic organizing.
Dedication to Political Education is an ongoing, necessary process to absorb the lessons of history and the successes or failures of past people's movements and move forward to victory with intentionality. We cannot change where we are unless we know how we got here. What's the story? What went wrong? What were the forces at work? Through this mutual understanding we are better equipped to rethink that story and engage one another in creating a new story that makes real the promise of democracy.
Political and Economic Independence allows us to go forth unencumbered by partisan politics or the quid pro quo associated with corporate or wealthy funders. It is essential to attaining and sustaining government of, by and for the people.

We believe we will only succeed if its local organizations build a broad-based movement in communities across the country. To this end, all MTA grassroots leaders are expected to gain the skills needed to build a movement that is inclusive across lines of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic class.

To assist local organizations in this process, the national Move to Amend organization will provide training and support through the Movement Education Program and other resources. In addition, we will provide information on locally available resources and trainings, and will assist local organizations in establishing channels of communication so that they can educate and support one another in their growth.

Expectations & Responsibilities for Affiliation

Share local membership/supporter/organizing lists with the national Move to Amend organization by collecting petitions and regularly uploading data to the Move to Amend database
Keep your web page on movetoamend.org current and updated with relevant and appropriate content
Regular use and enhancement of MTA's database infrastructure
Participation in monthly Coalition Conference Call
Active participation of MTA's Movement Education Program (completion of the current program and continuation of the process as it evolves)
Submit brief periodic reports to keep MTA National updated about your local activities (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly)

The above expectations are outlined in more detail in the Memorandum of Understanding, which must be signed by all advocates and/or affiliate leadership before your affiliation.

Criteria for Affiliation with Move to Amend

Acceptance and support for the We the People Amendment and our Core Principles
Support for Move to Amend's emphasis on movement building and grassroots organizing
Has applied to Move to Amend for affiliation and has provided leadership contact list and other documentation with that application.
Has implemented a functional structure that allows for new people to participate and get involved and also make decisions democratically, with accountable leadership, and a commitment to anti-oppression (leadership and involvement of women and people from oppressed communities such as people of color, LGTBQ+, etc.)
Has a history of networking with other organizations (eg. social justice, labor, environmental, faith, etc.), or is involved in that networking from the start of formation.
Evidence of good faith efforts to achieve gender balance in group leadership and organization.
Evidence of good faith efforts to empower individuals and groups from oppressed communities, through, for example leadership responsibilities and alliances with community-based organizations.

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