Campaign
Finance Guide
Section
4: Contributions
What
is a Contribution?
(DC Official Code § 1-1101.01(6)(A))
A contribution
is any gift or transfer of money, goods or services, a subscription
(including any assessment, fee, or membership dues), loan (except
a loan made in the regular course of business by a business
engaged in the business of making loans), or anything of value,
made for the purpose of financing, directly or indirectly, the
election campaign of a candidate or any operations of a political
committee involved in such a campaign, to obtain signatures
on any initiative, referendum or recall measure, or to bring
about the ratification or defeat of any initiative, referendum,
or recall measure.
Contribution
Limits
(DC Official Code §1-1131.01)
Individuals, partnerships,
committees, corporations, and labor organizations may make contributions
in support of or in opposition to candidates for nomination
or election to office. Contributors must be knowledgeable of
the limits imposed by the Act on contributions. Contributions
made to support or oppose initiative or referendum measures,
are unaffected by the limits. Political committees are limited
to contributions of $5,000.00 from any one source in any one
election (including primary and general elections, but excluding
special elections). Notwithstanding the foregoing, contributions
to a candidate’s principal campaign committee are treated
as contributions to the candidate and subject to the individual
candidate contribution limitations.
No person may contribute
to the support of an individual’s campaign for nomination
as a candidate or election to public office, including both
the primary and general elections or special elections, amounts
exceeding:
- $2,000
for Mayor, Shadow Senator and Shadow Representative
- $1,500
for Chairman of the Council
- $1,000
for an At-Large Council member
- $500
for President of the Board of Education, At-Large Member,
Board of Education, or for a Ward Council member
- $200
for a member of the Board of Education elected from a school
district or for an official of a political party
- $25
for a member of an Advisory Neighborhood Commission
- Unlimited
for the purposes of contributions made to support or oppose
initiative or referendum measures.
No person may
make contributions in any one election, for the Mayor, Shadow
Senator or Shadow Representative, the Chairman of the Council,
any member of the Council and each member of the Board of Education
(including primary and general elections, but excluding special
elections) which, when totaled with all other contributions
made by that person in that election to candidates and political
committees, exceeds the total sum of $8500.00.
Candidate's
Contributions to Their Own Campaign
There are no limits to what candidates can contribute financially
to their own campaigns as long as candidates use their own money,
and report the contributions made from personal funds.
Rules
Concerning Contributions Made by Partnerships
(DC Official Code § 1-1131.02)
All contributions made by partnerships must be attributed to
both the partnership and to each partner, on the Report of Receipts
and Expenditures. A partner’s contribution must be attributed
as follows:
- In direct proportion
to the partner’s share of the partnership profits, according
to instructions which must be provided by the partnership
to the political committee or candidate; or
- By agreement
of the partners, as long as only the profits of the partners
to whom the contributions are attributed are reduced (or losses
increased) in proportion to the contribution attributed to
each of them. Contributions by a partnership or by a partner
may not exceed the limitations on contributions as prescribed
by DC Official Code, Section 1-1131.02. No portion of such
contribution may be made from the profits of a corporation
that is a partner.
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Corporate
Contributions
(DC Official Code § 1-1101.01(8))
Contributions from corporations to political campaigns are allowed
in the District of Columbia. However, a corporation, its subsidiaries,
and all political committees established, financed, maintained
or controlled by the corporation and its subsidiaries share
a single contribution limitation for purposes of the contribution
limits imposed by DC Official Code § 1-1131.01.
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In-Kind
Contributions
(DC Official Code § 1-1101.01(6)(A))
A contribution of goods, services or property offered free or
at less than the usual and normal charge, or payments by a third
party for goods and services are in-kind contributions. In-kind
contributions must be valued at the current local fair Market
Value at the time of the contribution. In-kind contributions
(i.e., goods and services provided to a political committee
or candidate) are treated as any other contribution and are
subject to contribution limits. In-kind contributions must be
reported and itemized under the appropriate category of receipts.
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Itemized
and Unitemized Contributions
(DC Official Code §§ 1-1102.01 and 1-1102.06)
Contributions of each person who has made one (1) or more contributions
in the aggregate of $50.00 or more to a political committee
or candidate within a calendar year must be itemized on a Report
of Receipts and Expenditures. In addition, the total sum of
individual contributions of less than $50.00 made during a reporting
period must be reported on a Report of Receipts and Expenditures.
Things
to Remember
- The Campaign
Finance Act imposes limits on contributions made in support
of candidates for nomination or election to office, and to
political committees.
- Contributions
made to support or oppose initiative or referendum measures
are unaffected by the limits.
- Corporations
may make political contributions in the District of Columbia.
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