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The Sierra Club is a nonpartisan organization. We should encourage candidates from all parties to make environmental protection an issue in the Presidential campaign, and we should take active steps to engage candidates on our issues regardless of their party affiliation.
In March 2007, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that would permit the Club to provide “activities short of endorsement (as enumerated in section D-353 of the Compliance Guidelines) to any announced presidential candidate involved in an active contest for the nomination of a political party who requests them.”
There are several ways for Club staff and volunteers to engage the presidential candidates including the specific activities short of endorsement outlined in guideline section D-353.
- Engage in a dialogue with presidential candidates about environmental protection and Sierra Club issues. Offer Club staff and volunteer expertise on issues as candidates develop their positions on important environmental issues. Offer to serve as informal “advisors” on environmental policy.
- Allow presidential candidates to rent Sierra Club membership mailing lists for one time use only for outreach or fundraising purposes. (See List Rental procedures below.)
- Permit presidential candidates to purchase advertisements in Sierra Club publications.
- Communicate with Sierra Club members about presidential candidates and the presidential race.
- Allow presidential candidates to recruit members to work as volunteers on their campaign.
Approval Process
The Board has delegated approval of all activities short of endorsement to the SCPC. All requests by presidential candidates will be considered for approval irrespective of a candidate's eligibility for Sierra Club endorsement. The following are the steps for approval of those activities short of endorsement involving direct member contact by a candidate or on behalf of a candidate (#2-4 above):
- Presidential candidate makes a request for one or more activity short of endorsement of staff or a volunteer.
- The SCPC is informed of the candidate's request.
- The Political Chair of the local Chapter relevant to the requested member contact is informed of the request by staff or SCPC liaison, as appropriate. The chapter is given 7 days to review the request and provide input to the SCPC.
a. If the Chapter approves the request, the SCPC is advised and will consider the requested activity. If it is approved, the SCPC will direct the staff to proceed with fulfilling the request.
b. If after 7 days there is no action by the Chapter, the SCPC will consider the request and inform staff how to proceed.
c. If the Chapter objects to the request, the objection may be overruled by a majority vote of the Presidential Subcommittee of the SCPC.
- All activities short of endorsement will conform to all existing Club policies concerning access to Club resources.
The Sierra Club's membership list is one of its most valuable resources. Specific guidelines have been established to preserve and protect its value.
In general, presidential candidates are permitted to rent the membership list for the candidate's home state and/or other locations if the request is approved by the SCPC in accordance with the Approval Process above. However, the SCPC is sensitive to the over-mailing of a list such that members are inundated with candidate mailings and has agreed to limit the number of times a candidate can rent a particular list. (See List Rental procedures below.)
It should be noted that federal election law requires that candidates purchase the Club's member list at fair market value. The Club's list is considered a high-value list at the rate of $75 per 1000 names. The “swapping” of lists with candidates is prohibited due to the variable and, sometimes, untested value of their list. “Swapping” with lists of different value could put the Club in the position of making a prohibited corporate contribution to a campaign.
- The Sierra Club rents its membership mailing list to candidates. The Club does not rent donor lists to anyone.
a. For each rental, a candidate will receive a set of labels that can be used one time .
b. Candidates' use of a particular mailing list will be limited to a total of 3 times for fundraising and outreach purposes during the primary campaign.
c. One of the three uses can be for fundraising. Candidates are permitted to mail a fundraising appeal once before a primary election and once before the general election (if the candidate forgoes public financing for the general election).
- SCPC Guidelines permit membership mailing labels to be released to a reputable mail house or a Sierra Club member who will retain custody of the labels at all times (supervising volunteers preparing the mailing). The labels cannot be released to a campaign representative.
- Form 6 (attached) must be completed and sent to the Sierra Club's Labels Desk. The Labels Desk will prepare an invoice for the total list rental at the established rate of $75 per 1000 names. Note that rented lists exclude all members who have a “no exchange” flag.
- Candidates must provide the national political staff with the text of the mailing to be sent to members for review and editing, as needed.
a. Mailings will be screened to ensure that the candidate has not made any false claims about his/her environmental record.
b. The mailing can include references to the candidate's record only and cannot include attacks on opponents or opponents' records.
c. The mailing must meet federal disclaimer requirements.
d. The national political staff will keep a final copy of the mailing on file.
- In order to comply with federal election law, payment for the label rental must be received in advance. Upon receipt of payment, the Labels desk will release the labels to the mail house or Club member as indicated on Form 6.
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