Not all of the nearly 3,000 groups – and counting - that are part of the TEA Party movement are political action committees that are legally allowed to donate to candidates. In fact, MUCH more money went into education and outreach in the last election than went to actual candidates. And for good reason – the $5,000 maximum a PAC can give is nowhere near as important as bringing more volunteers and voters to the movement! TheTeaParty.net is a 501c4 organization; it can’t legally give any money to candidates. Our goal is to use the contributions we do receive – from less than 10% of those who use our many free online resources to get involved in the movement - to constantly bring more people into the movement. That means broadly marketing our name and message to as wide an audience as possible. The proof is in the pudding – as of this month, we have brought 80,960 people into the movement and connected them to state & local TEA Party groups nationwide. We give individuals the tools to get involved, and get others involved, in the movement. If each of those people had donated just $10 of their money to a candidate or group of their choice as a result of our introduction, we would have helped bring in a lot more money than we’ve spent bringing them in. That’s a success. -Teresa