National Rifle Association* (NRA)
While widely recognized today as a major political force and as America's foremost defender of Second
Amendment rights, the NRA has, since its inception, been the premier firearms education organization in the
world. But our successes would not be possible without the tireless efforts and countless hours of service our
nearly five million members have given to champion Second Amendment rights and support NRA programs.
Over the past few years, NRA-ILA (Institute for Legislative Action) members and the NRA have decidedly
changed politics in America. Across the country, from the presidential race to Congress to state legislative
races, there has been a noted increase in ads proudly proclaiming candidates' pro-gun credentials.
In the 2008 and 2010 elections, NRA resources were widely deployed in more critical battles than ever before.
Millions of dollars were spent on direct campaign donations, independent campaign expenditures and on
mobilizing the most aggressive grassroots operation in NRA history. Leading up to the 2012 elections,
NRA-ILA will build on that grassroots organization with continued programs to effectively communicate with
NRA members and others.
The NRA Political Victory Fund, which ranks political candidates irrespective of party affiliation, is involved in
hundreds of campaigns for the U.S. House and Senate in each election cycle. NRA-PVF also endorses
thousands of candidates running in state legislative races.
*Adapted from: https://www.nraila.org/about/election-center/
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People* (NAACP)
The vision of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to
ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination
based on race.
Principal objectives are:
● To ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all
citizens
● To achieve equality of rights and eliminate race prejudice among the citizens
of the United States
● To remove all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes
● To seek enactment and enforcement of federal, state, and local laws securing
civil rights
● To inform the public of the adverse effects of racial discrimination and to
seek its elimination
● To educate persons as to their constitutional rights and to take all lawful
action to secure [these rights]
By the 1950s the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, headed by
Marshall, secured the last of these goals through Brown v. Board of
Education (1954), which outlawed segregation in public schools. The NAACP’s
Washington, D.C., bureau, led by lobbyist Clarence M. Mitchell Jr., helped advance
not only integration of the armed forces in 1948 but also passage of the Civil Rights
Acts of 1957, 1964, and 1968 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s echoed the NAACP’s goals, but
leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, felt that direct action was needed to obtain them. Although the NAACP
was criticized for working too rigidly within the system, prioritizing legislative and
judicial solutions, the Association did provide legal representation and aid to
members of other protest groups over a sustained period of time. The NAACP even
posted bail for hundreds of Freedom Riders in the ‘60s who had traveled to
Mississippi to register black voters and challenge Jim Crow policies.
*Adapted from: https://www.naacp.org/about-us/ and
https://www.naacp.org/nations-premier-civil-rights-organization/
American Association of Retired Persons* (AARP)
AARP fights for age 50 and over individuals and their families at the local, state and
national levels. We work on important issues, such as:
● Leading efforts to update Social Security and promote other retirement
savings efforts to help everyone achieve lifetime financial security
● Promoting adequate, affordable health care, including prescription drugs and
long-term care
● Fostering communities with affordable and appropriate housing, as well as
supportive community features and options for getting around
Recent advocacy victories include passage of family caregiver-support bills in
dozens of states and saving residential consumers billions of dollars on utility bills
in recent years.
For 60 years, AARP has fought to make prescription drugs more affordable by
advocating in Congress, providing free tools and resources to consumers and
pioneering marketplace solutions. Medicare beneficiaries
gain prescription drug coverage, thanks to grassroots support from AARP members
for a federal law creating Part D drug coverage. AARP supports the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act due to important provisions such as coverage of
preexisting conditions, closure of the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” gap in
prescription drug coverage and new preventive health benefits.
*Adapted from: https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/company/social-impact/
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is one of the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots
environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in
San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who
became its first president. The Sierra Club has hundreds of thousands of members in
chapters located throughout the US, and is affiliated with Sierra Club Canada. The
Sierra Club's mission is: To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth;
To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources;
To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and
human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
The Sierra Club built a national community of volunteers, advocates, and grassroots
activists who show up when and where it counts. Their supporters have the tools and
resources to make themselves heard in nearly every district in every state across the
country. From securing protection for 439 parks and monuments, to winning passage
of the Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts, to putting over 281 coal plants on
the path to replacement with clean energy, to securing the right of every kid in
America to visit a national park.
*Adapted from: https://www.sierraclub.org/about-sierra-club
