Run for Something
Run for Something is a U.S. PAC founded in 2017 that recruits, vets, and supports young, diverse progressive candidates running for down-ballot offices across all 50 states. The organization offers free mentorship, training, and campaign resources backed by a 250,000+ candidate pipeline.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersBrooklyn, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Run for Something does
Run for Something is a U.S. Political Action Committee (PAC) founded on January 20, 2017 and legally domiciled in Washington, D.C., with operational presence in Brooklyn, NY. The organization recruits, vets, and supports young, diverse progressive candidates running for down-ballot offices (state legislator, county clerk, city council, school board, and local offices) across all 50 states and D.C. Its core deliverable is the Candidate Support System — a coordinated package of strategic guidance, mentorship matching with 250+ volunteer experts, GOTV planning, vendor discounts, press amplification through a 200,000+ supporter digital network, and access to educational resources organized into phased programs.
The organization's technology stack is lightweight and community-driven rather than platform-engineered. It is built around a candidate pipeline database tracking 250,000+ prospective candidates, a Slack community segmented by state, specialty, and demographics, a searchable Candidate Directory, State Guides for ballot qualifications, the Armchair Series video content, an RFS Podcast, and a book by co-founder Amanda Litman. Third-party infrastructure includes Mixmax (service access), Google Drive (resource hosting), Google Analytics (marketing), ActBlue (donation processing), and Mobilize (event management). There is no proprietary AI or ML capability disclosed.
Run for Something firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Run for Something
- Legal name
- Run for Something PAC
- Website
- https://runforsomething.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Run for Something is a U.S. PAC founded in 2017 that recruits, vets, and supports young, diverse progressive candidates running for down-ballot offices across all 50 states. The organization offers free mentorship, training, and campaign resources backed by a 250,000+ candidate pipeline.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Run for Something industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Political Campaign Recruitment and Support Services
- NAICS
- Political Organizations (813940), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI), Civic Participation & Leadership Development (Voting, Advocacy, Community Leadership) (EDAAADAL)
Keywords
Where Run for Something is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brooklyn
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Run for Something business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Political Donations: Run for Something PAC operates as a political action committee funded entirely by individual donations. All services to candidates are free, funded by donor contributions to the PAC.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free candidate services |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels10 records
Run for Something product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Run for Something is a political action committee (PAC) that recruits and supports young, diverse progressives to run for down-ballot offices such as state legislator, city council, county clerk, and school board. It vets candidates through personal calls, then provides endorsed candidates with strategic guidance, mentorship matching, exclusive training, vendor discounts, GOTV planning support, and media amplification through a 200,000+ supporter network. All services are offered free of charge to candidates, volunteers, and mentors.
Product overview
Run for Something operates as a political organization offering a suite of interconnected programs and resources to recruit, support, and elect young, diverse progressives to down-ballot offices. The core offering consists of the Candidate Support System (providing strategic guidance, mentorship, training, and campaign resources), a Mentorship Directory (over 250 volunteer mentors), a Candidate Directory (searchable database of endorsed candidates across all 50 states), and Candidate Resources (organized phased guidance for running for office). Additional offerings include a Slack-based online community, the Armchair Series video content, an RFS Podcast, a book by co-founder Amanda Litman, and State Guides covering ballot requirements. The organization leverages third-party platforms including Slack, Google Drive, and Mixmax for service delivery.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Quantifiable outcome
- 3,500+ candidates endorsed
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Run for Something
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Run for Something technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature3 records
Run for Something partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.
- National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC)coreRFS has linked up with NDTC to help candidates learn about the process of running for office. NDTC provides training courses including fundraising plans, campaign events, messaging, communications planning, and GOTV strategies.
- ArenacoreArena Academy provides immersive five-day training programs for aspiring political professionals. Candidates are referred to this program for hands-on campaign experience.
- Emily's ListmajorRun to Win is a national recruitment and training campaign focused on helping pro-choice Democratic women run for office and win. Candidates are referred for specialized training.
- Emerge AmericamajorProvides candidate training programs to help women learn about running for office. RFS candidates benefit from access to these training resources.
- She Should RunsupportingRoad to Run series provides virtual events for women considering a future run for office with baseline knowledge of what goes into running for public office.
- ActBluecoreRFS links to ActBlue to enable donations through their platform. ActBlue provides the payment processing infrastructure for campaign contributions.
- Snap Inc.majorSnapchat's Run for Office Mini feature enables young users to learn about and navigate local politics. TechCrunch, NBC, ABC News, NPR and other outlets covered the launch in October 2021.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Run for Something competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- She Should Run: Nonpartisan organization recruiting women to run for office. Directly comparable to RFS in mission (candidate recruitment pipeline building) and target demographic expansion, though broader ideologically and focused on encouraging rather than endorsing candidates.
- EMILY's List: Long-standing PAC dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women. Overlaps with RFS in target candidates (progressive Democratic women) and down-ballot support, but has a longer history, larger budget, and stronger primary-election infrastructure. RFS routes candidates to EMILY's List for specialized training.
- Emerge America: Recruits and trains Democratic women candidates for state and local office across 25+ state affiliates. Direct competitor for the same candidate pool, with state-embedded training programs that mirror RFS' mentorship and endorsement model.
- National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC): Provides free online and in-person campaign training for Democratic candidates and staff. Directly comparable training infrastructure; RFS partnership signals complementary rather than purely overlapping roles, though both compete for the same candidate attention span.
- Collective PAC: Federal PAC focused on electing Black candidates to federal and state office. Comparable candidate-recruitment-and-support model with demographic specialization, similar scale (~3,600 endorsements lifetime), and similar donor-funded PAC structure.
- Latino Victory Fund: PAC supporting Latino progressive candidates across federal and state offices. Demographically specialized candidate recruitment with overlapping PAC structure and donor base; competes for progressive down-ballot dollars.
Emerging players
- Arena Academy: Five-day immersive campaign training program for political professionals. Adjacent but more concentrated in intensive bootcamp-style training versus RFS' year-long mentorship and endorsement model; serves a subset of RFS candidates.
- New Politics: Recruits and supports young veterans and former refugees to run for office in the U.S. and abroad. Smaller candidate pipeline but mission-adjacent (youth, civic renewal), with a similar endorsement-and-support model for down-ballot races.
- Higher Heights for America: Organization building Black women's political power through civic engagement, leadership development, and candidate support. Smaller scale than RFS with similar demographic-candidate-empowerment focus and direct candidate recruitment programs.
Broad incumbents
- Swing Left: Progressive organization mobilizing volunteers and donors for Democratic candidates in swing districts. Broader, volunteer-driven model versus RFS' candidate-side recruitment, but overlapping donor pool and shared down-ballot-funding thesis.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Run for Something social profiles
Digital presenceRun for Something financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Run for Something leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Run for Something funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Run for Something M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Run for Something
What does Run for Something do?
Run for Something is a political action committee (PAC) that recruits and supports young, diverse progressives to run for down-ballot offices such as state legislator, city council, county clerk, and school board. It vets candidates through personal calls, then provides endorsed candidates with strategic guidance, mentorship matching, exclusive training, vendor discounts, GOTV planning support, and media amplification through a 200,000+ supporter network. All services are offered free of charge to candidates, volunteers, and mentors.
Is Run for Something a public or private company?
Run for Something is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Run for Something founded?
Run for Something was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Run for Something based?
Run for Something is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States, in the North America region.
How does Run for Something make money?
One revenue line is on record: political Donations.
Who are Run for Something's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are She Should Run, EMILY's List, Emerge America, National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC), Collective PAC and Latino Victory Fund. Emerging players are Arena Academy, New Politics and Higher Heights for America. Swing Left is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Run for Something have an API?
No public API is recorded for Run for Something.
What industry is Run for Something in?
Run for Something's product category is Political Campaign Recruitment and Support Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAFAJ, Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy, with a secondary code of BPAGADAI, Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits. Its NAICS code is 813940 and its SIC code is 8600.