Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Receipts v. contributions
Contributions, in the context of campaign finance, are anything of value given to a campaign or political committee.[1] Receipts are anything of value received by a political committee.[2]
Usage
What counts as a contribution?
There are two primary types of contributions, according to the Federal Election Commission:
- Money contributions
- In-kind contributions
Money contributions include cash, checks, or credit card payments. In-kind contributions are goods and services provided to a campaign.[3]
The FEC explained in-kind contributions:
| “ | Goods or services offered free or at less than the usual charge result in an in-kind contribution. Similarly, when a person pays for services on the committee’s behalf, the payment is an in-kind contribution. An expenditure made by any person in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate’s campaign is also considered an in-kind contribution to the candidate.
|
” |
In limited circumstances, however, a person may provide goods and services without formally being considered to have made a contribution.[3] Bitcoins and proceeds from sales, like campaign t-shirts and event admission, also count as contributions.[3]
What do not count as contributions?
Political committees receive some things that do not formally count as contributions. "For example, when services are volunteered—not paid for by anyone—the activity is not considered a contribution."[3] Non-contribution receipts also include the use of a person's private home, a church room, or a community room for a campaign event, "as long as the facility is regularly used for noncommercial purposes by members of the community, without regard to political affiliation"; a person's provision of food or drink up to $1,000 in cost for a campaign event at their home or a church or community room; and volunteer work by foreign nationals. Those are all receipts, but none are contributions.[5]
The FEC lists additional types of support that are not contributions:
| “ | ” |
See also
- Federal Election Commission
- History of campaign finance regulation
- Federal campaign finance laws and regulations
External links
- Official website of the Federal Election Commission
- FEC - Disclosure Date Search
- Search Google News for this topic
Footnotes
- ↑ FEC, "Types of contributions," accessed March 30, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Federal Elections Commission, "Taking in receipts," accessed March 30, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Federal Election Commission, "Types of contributions," accessed March 30, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Volunteer activity," accessed March 30, 2018
