How Can a Political Candidate Receive Contributions?

If you want to raise money for political office, the current regulatory framework necessitates having a large number of supporters. Limits on direct campaign contributes prevent a single or small number of contributors from providing the resources necessary to stage a competitive federal campaign.

Political candidates receive most contributions from eligible individuals, political action committees, and political parties. A political candidate may not accept a direct contribution from a corporation, labor union, or national bank. The various types of 501(c) organizations are incorporated entities and therefore cannot make direct contributions because of the ban of direct corporate contributions.

For the 2012 election, an individual may contribute up to $2,500 per election to a political candidate. 

A multicandidate political action committee may contribute up to $5,000 per election to a political candidate.

National Party Committees may contribute $43,100 per election to Senatorial candidates. This limit is shared between a national senatorial committee (the DSCC and NRSC) and the national party committee (the DNC and RNC). The combined contributions from the DSCC and DNC to Democratic senatorial candidates cannot exceed $43,100.

National Party Committees may contribute $5,000 per election to House candidates and $5,000 per election to Presidential candidates.

State Party Committees may contribute $5000 per election to Senate, House, and Presidential candidates.

Other Possible Contributors

There are some other entities which may make political contributions.

Non-individual persons (such as Tribes or partnerships) have the same limit as individuals: $2,500 per election to Senate, House, and Presidential candidates.

Partnerships

A contribution from a partnership counts against the partnerships limit and against the limits of the partners the contribution is attributed to.

As an example, imagine “Sample Firm Partnership” a partnership with two partners, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones. The partnership contributes $5,000 to Candidate Thomas running for the U.S. House ($2,500 for the primary and $2500 for the general election, assume no runoff election). The partners indicate that they want the contribution designated equally between them.

Sample Firm Partnership has now reached the maximum it can contribute to Candidate Thomas, of $2,500 for the primary and $2,500 for the general election. Of that contribution, half is attributed to Mr. Smith and half to Mr. Jones.

Therefore, each partner is only at half the legal limit. Either or both partners may make a personal contribution to Candidate Thomas of up to $5,000. They cannot contribute using funds from the partnership, but may do so with personal funds. A contribution from partnership funds must be authorized by the partner the contribution is attributed to. Therefore, a partnership cannot be used as a loophole to increase the amount that an individual is allowed to contribute to a political candidate.

There have been FEC Advisory Opinions allowing partnerships to pay for incidental expenses for managing political contributions from a partnership without the partnership becoming a political committee. This is similar to the exemption allowed corporate connected PACs.  However, any contributions made by a partnership to a non-connected PAC (including contributions made in kind of office space, legal fees and other operating expenses) count as a contribution to the PAC and must be allocated to partners.

This limit is set by BCRA and can be adjusted for inflation each campaign cycle.