For Coalition Partners and Institutional Donors
Underwrite the legal infrastructure for honest government.
A nationally representative study fielded by Verasight, an independent research firm (September 2026, N=1,000, preregistered), returned 73% yes on the proposed amendment after respondents reviewed the full design, including enforcement: nine supporters for every opponent, with opposition at 10% or below in every party bloc. The work now needs the legal capacity to defend that mandate the moment it gains real political traction.
Why the scale is what it is
A dishonest system serves narrow private interests better than an honest one. The actors who benefit from policy that does not have to explain itself will spend whatever it takes to keep that arrangement in place. We expect this proposal to be attacked relentlessly the moment it threatens that.
That is why the operating budget has to be measured in tens of millions over the multi-year horizon, not low millions. The legal defense line alone runs for years after the amendment is challenged. The public campaign line determines how much public pressure those legal battles are fought under.
The cleaner the cross-partisan finding, the further every dollar goes. A 10-to-1 support-to-opposition ratio, confirmed by an independent representative replication, is the strongest asset the campaign has. Underwriting now is what turns it into law.
Year-one disciplined launch budget: $5,000,000. Multi-year defense + launch envelope: $50,000,000. Founding-circle and major-gift conversations route through .
Use of funds
Legal foundation
Lobbying-purpose drafting of constitutional language, supporting statutes, regulatory rules, and model state-level versions. Outside counsel across constitutional, election, and administrative law. Filing and ballot-access fees. Legal defense WHEN the right is challenged in court, not if. The largest line, and the one that buys the most insurance against bad-faith challenges. This tier is conducted by the C4 Action Fund. The Institute's parallel scholarly research on accountability mechanisms is described in Tier 3.
Public campaign
Reaching voters with the proposal at the scale required to win on the ballot. Paid media, prebunking against bad-faith attacks, ballot-initiative campaigning in priority states, message testing, and coalition operations. Lobbying within 501(c)(4) limits. Scales up or down based on funding.
The Institute (long-term home)
Ongoing research, coalition recruitment, and operational infrastructure. The longer-run vision is bigger than any one law: build the infrastructure that shows Americans what becomes possible when government reasons honestly about how to achieve our goals, and lets us choose among the real solutions for ourselves. For the smaller set of issues where we genuinely disagree on outcomes, the Institute helps people come together with the tools to choose for themselves how they want to compromise. Most of today's division is manufactured on purpose by a broken political system that uses division and dysfunction to hold power, so that government decisions serve the few and the corrupt, even when it's at the expense of everyone else. Under the right to honest government, manipulating outcomes against the interests of the people becomes illegal. And life in America can return to something much better.
Operational posture
- Two separate California nonprofits. The Right to Honest Governance Institute, organized under section 501(c)(3) (federal recognition application in preparation), EIN 41-4546412, runs the research and educational program. The Right to Honest Government Action (501(c)(4)), EIN 41-4784643, runs the advocacy and campaign program.
- Separate ledgers. Separate bank accounts, separate processors, separate recordkeeping. The C3 cannot fund campaign work. The C4 cannot fund tax-deductible educational programs. Neither entity supports candidates or political parties.
- Methodology on the public record. Pre-registration on OSF (osf.io/br3u2), full ballot walkthrough and audit trail published in the coalition pitch.
Choose the legal arm
Pick the arm whose legal scope matches the contribution. For most institutional donors the right answer is to fund both, in proportions that match the share of the work each arm carries.
501(c)(4): advocacy and campaign
The Right to Honest Government Action
Funds the public campaign, ballot-access work, message testing, prebunking against bad-faith attacks, and lobbying within the rules. Not tax-deductible.
ContinueOrganized under 501(c)(3): research and legal work
The Right to Honest Governance Institute
The research arm is not taking donations right now. Its IRS recognition application is in preparation, and giving will open here once the Institute is ready to accept it.
For founding-circle commitments, multi-year pledges, or structured giving (DAF, foundation grant, planned gift), use and we will route to the correct entity and provide the documentation your counsel or advisor will want to see.
Page last updated September 11, 2026.