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A citizen-funded super PAC, to end all super PACs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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# Frequently Asked Questions
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## What's the plan here?

We have launched an experiment to see whether we can kick-start a campaign for
fundamental reform.

That campaign will occur across at least two election cycles.

If we raise our funding targets, in 2014, we will launch a small campaign in at
least 5 congressional districts. Based on what we learn in those 5 districts, we
will launch a much larger campaign to get us to 218 votes in the House, and 60
votes in the United States Senate.

## Why is this so important? What's wrong with the Status Quo?

[This article](https://medium.com/law-of-the-land/whats-so-bad-about-a-superpac-c7cbcf617b58) by Lawrence Lessig, entitled ["What's so bad about a Superpac?"](https://medium.com/law-of-the-land/whats-so-bad-about-a-superpac-c7cbcf617b58) explains in detail exactly why the way candidates raise money for elections needs to be reformed, and the dynamics that the creation of Super PACs have produced.

## What do you mean by "kick-start"?

We will set a series of targets — two in 2014, more for the 2016 cycle — in
which we announce a fundraising goal, and ask people to commit to that goal.

People "commit" by pledging a contribution to the Mayday PAC. Those funds are kept only if we reach the target by the
target date at the end of the month. If we don’t meet the goal, no pledges are
kept by Mayday PAC.

In 2014, there is one additional contingency. [Prof. Lawrence Lessig](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig) has committed to matching the two fundraising targets. We will only keep your pledge if he has secured that match.

## What happens if we don't meet our goal?

If the goal is not met, your pledge to the kick-start campaign is not kept by Mayday PAC. We'll keep working toward reform, but there won't be as much ammunition to work with. 

## What kind of "PAC" is the Mayday PAC?

The Mayday PAC is a 501(c)(4), or "Super PAC". That means it spends the money it collects
independently of any political campaign. But the ultimate aim of this super PAC
is to end the dominance of super PACs in our elections.

We want fundamental reform that will change the way elections are funded. The
first step towards that goal is to elect a Congress that will enact fundamental
reform. Once we have that Congress, we will then consider the constitutional
reform that will secure fundamental reform.



## So you want to use big money to fight big money?

Yes. We want to use big money (collected from the many) to fight big money
(collected from the few). Ironic, we understand. But *embrace the
irony*. Everyone recognizes that politics costs money in America. And we
don't imagine a future where campaigns are free. But if we can pull together a
large enough pool of money through this campaign, we can convince Americans that
they can change the way money matters in politics. We can create a system in
which it isn't the influence of a few that matters. Instead, as any democracy
should, it would be the influence of a majority that matters.



## What will you spend the money on?

We win elections in which we’ve made fundamental reform a key issue.

Once we hit our kick-start targets, the money raised is turned over to
professional campaigners, who will craft interventions in targeted districts to
make fundamental reform the issue in that campaign — and to make the reform
candidate the winner.

In 2014, these interventions will serve as prototype for a much larger round of
funding in the 2016 cycle. Our aim this year is to learn what works, and to
prepare for the much bigger fight in 2016 for a majority in Congress committed
to reform.

100% of the money you pledge will be used to fund campaigns. Any expenses we
have to build and operate the MaydayPAC — and there will be some — will be paid
for through other donations.

We hope you’ll give us the freedom to run the most effective campaign for
fundamental reform that we can. But if you’d like to target your contributions,
you can indicate whether your money will help only Republicans, or only
Democrats.



## Will the contributors to the Mayday PAC be listed?

The names of all contributors above $200 will be reported to the F.E.C. We will
list the names of large contributors prominently on our site. We will not accept
anonymous contributions, or contributions from anonymizing entities.



## What does "fundamental reform" mean? What specific proposals do you support?

We want to reform the way campaigns are funded. As we see it, the critical
problem in American politics today is that a tiny fraction of Americans are the
effective, or relevant, funders of congressional campaigns. We want to spread
that influence out, to include the widest number of citizens as the effective
funders of campaigns.

There are a range of proposals that would do this — some better than others, but
all which would achieve fundamental reform. Lawrence Lessig's campaign finance
reform group Rootstrikers has listed five specific proposals at
[reform.to](http://reform.to/#/reforms), and that list may evolve.

But as a first step, any candidate for Congress who has pledged to co-sponsor
one of these reforms will be safe from the Mayday PAC. At this point, we will
only target candidates who have not committed to co-sponsoring fundamental
reform.

That standard may change. The requirements for "safe harbor" may need to
evolve. But at this point, the simplest way for a candidate or incumbent to
avoid the Mayday PAC is commit to fundamental reform.

Here is a great video made by one of our supporters which explains "citizen funded elections" and what we mean by "fundamental reform."

<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OCnRxgfV5ps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>


## The reforms at Reform.to are just statutory. What about constitutional change?

We believe a commitment to statutory reform is the first necessary step. Once we
have a majority big enough to enact that reform, we will turn to the much harder
challenge of constitutional reform. The work of the Mayday PAC will not be
finished until we have secured constitutional reform. But that change is next on
the list. It is not the focus of our work now. And we do not view a commitment
to constitutional reform without a commitment to statutory reform as sufficient.



## Is campaign reform the only "screen" that will be used to decide which candidate(s) to support?

Yes. Support for fundamental reform in the way campaigns are funded is the
essential filter now. And while there are other issues that we all feel
passionate about, the one and only thing that our pledgers and volunteers are
unanimously united on is the need to reform the way we fund elections in the
United States.



## Isn't it possible that otherwise "awful" candidates could say they will support campaign reform and then not actually do so once elected? How can you deal with this?

Yes, that's possible, but we will select candidates to minimize that possibility
(by selecting people who otherwise seem trustworthy and reliable), and make as
public as possible any commitments they make.



## Which candidates are you planning to support? Both Democrats and Republicans are recognized on your web page, but there is a huge difference in philosophies about fair elections between the two major parties.

In 2014, we will spend the money to learn and to teach — to learn what works
best, in winning seats on the basis of reform, and to teach that this is an
issue Americans care about, Democrats, Republicans and Independents. That
should make the candidates in 2016 at all levels of government pay attention.

That campaign will be most effective when it can launch fully and
effectively. If we pre-launch it — by announcing candidates now — it will
not be effective.

In 2016, we will spend money to win a majority in Congress committed to
fundamental reform.



## The options of "Whatever Helps," "Republicans Only," and "Democrats Only" do not leave room for an "Independents/3rd Party" option. Why have you chosen to exclude independent candidates?

In 2014, our objective is to win seats on the basis of reform, and to show that
we can win seats on the basis of reform. We don't see any independent candidates
on the federal level who could win this election cycle. Spending our donors
money to support independent candidates doesn't advance our objective. However,
if that changes, we will reconsider.




## Is there a physical mailing address that I can send a check to? I don't give money over the Internet.

Yes there is:

> MAYDAY PAC<br>
> P.O. Box 380444<br>
> Cambridge, MA 02238

Please include your name, address, occupation, and employer along
with your check.   According to FEC rules, we will be unable to accept
your donation without that information.

<strong>Unless you indicate differently, we will assume that your donation by check is not contingent — meaning we will use it to fund campaigns whether we reach our target goal or not.</strong>

## Why is my bank reporting my pledge as a recurring payment?

Under no circumstances is your pledge a recurring payment. It is a one-time charge.

Our payments processor, like other payments processors, sends what is called a "recur flag" to banks to lessen the chances of a decline. Most banks do not pass this bit of technical info on to their customers' statements, but a few do. Either way, rest assured: your pledge is not a recurring payment. It is a one-time charge.

(Please note: If you made a donation through democracy.com, instead of a pledge, and chose to make that donation recurring, then you will in fact be charged on a monthly basis.)


## Do you accept Bitcoin contributions?

Thanks to a PAC called MakeYourLaws, which has gotten approval from the FEC for 501(4)(c) organizations to accept up to $100 from individuals in Bitcoin, yes. You can now donate bitcoin - up to $100 worth - at [mayday.us/bitcoin](/bitcoin)


## What percentage of my contribution is eaten up by overhead?

**None of the money raised through this citizens-up campaign will be spent for
overhead or other indirect costs. 100% of that money will be devoted to
campaigns.**

This doesn’t mean there is no overhead in this project. It means we will cover
the costs of that overhead — including even the payment processing fees from
your contributions — from other sources. Those costs will be as small as we can
keep them. None of the directors of the Mayday PAC will be paid. And we will
keep the costs of building and maintaining MayDay.us as low as possible. But
whatever costs this organizing site incurs, we will cover them independently of
the money raised through the two pledge campaigns.

## What payment processor do you use? Are my money and information safe?

We have decided upon using [Stripe](https://stripe.com/) as our payment
processor. Stripe has offered us a very competitive rate (for which we thank
them), and Stripe is compliant with PCI requirements and no sensitive data hits
our servers. When you enter in your credit card information, it is not stored
on the MayDay.us site and goes directly to Stripe via the Stripe.js API.

Or in short: Yes, your money and info are safe.

## I pledged, but the number on the homepage didn't change. Why is that?

In order to keep the site responding quickly, we update the home page bar only
once every few minutes. Don't worry – your pledge was recorded in our system,
and will count towards the total.

## If I pledged in May, but after the $1M goal was met, and the June goal is not met, does MayDay get my money?

Any amount pledged in May over 1M will become part of the 5M June goal, and will be kept only if that goal is met and matched.

## What if my question isn't answered here?

You can ask us through our [Contact Page](/contact). Please send us your feedback.

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