Colorado runs on volunteerism, from the church groups that adopt and clean a section of highway to the activists who keep watch on the Capitol for those who can't.
Except for "grassroots" groups that are more astroturf with special interest money, volunteer organizations don't have the big bucks with which to do battle.
For their ideas to be heard, they do it with a commitment to delivering meals for neighbors, building trails, advocating for the homeless or giving a few bucks to promote their ideology.
"Our whole system of government rests on the idea that everyday people elect officials to represent their interests, but the very wealthy and powerful have done their best to commandeer the process, lobbying and spending obscene amounts of money to hang on to their outsized influence," said Jenny Davies, who leads the consulting firm Progressive Promotions, which specializes in helping nonprofits and community groups that tend to skew left.