# Trade Association An industry's collective political vehicle: a nonprofit (typically a 501(c)(6)) funded by member-company dues that lobbies, litigates, and messages on the industry's behalf. Trade associations are the **dominant form on the demand side of the influence industry** — in 2025, roughly two-thirds of the top-20 lobbying spenders were associations rather than individual companies, led as always by the [[US Chamber of Commerce]] ($72.2M). ## Why the form wins Four structural advantages. **Pooling:** dues aggregate spend no single member would justify alone. **Cover:** the association takes positions individual companies would rather not sign — a company can publicly support climate action while its association fights the regulation ("lobbying laundering"). **Coordination without conspiracy:** antitrust law restricts competitors coordinating directly; the association is the legal venue for common political strategy. **Permanence:** companies come and go from political fights; the association is a standing army with institutional memory. ## The tell Because 501(c)(6) organizations need not disclose their donors, trade-association spending sits halfway between transparent lobbying and [[Dark Money]]: the *spend* is disclosed under the LDA, but *who funds it and in what proportion* is not. When a company's public position and its association's lobbying diverge, the association usually reveals the real preference. At full maturity the model shades into [[Regulatory Capture]] — the association drafts the rules its members will live under. ## In the census The demand-side table in the [[Lobbying Hub]] carries the 2025 top 20: associations ([[US Chamber of Commerce]], [[National Association of Realtors]], [[PhRMA]], [[Business Roundtable]], [[American Hospital Association]], [[American Medical Association]], [[Pharmaceutical Care Management Association]] et al.) alongside the handful of companies that spend at association scale ([[Meta]], [[General Motors]], [[Amazon]], [[Lockheed Martin]]). ## See also [[Lobbying]] · [[Lobbying Hub]] · [[US Chamber of Commerce]] · [[Regulatory Capture]] · [[Dark Money]]