11 CFR § 9034.8 - Joint fundraising.
(a) General. Nothing in this section shall supersede 11 CFR part 300, which prohibits any person from soliciting, receiving, directing, transferring, or spending any non-Federal funds, or from transferring Federal funds for Federal election activities.
(1) Permissible participants. Presidential primary candidates who receive matching funds under this subchapter may engage in joint fundraising with other candidates, political committees or unregistered committees or organizations.
(2) Use of funds. Contributions received as a result of a candidate's participation in a joint fundraising activity under this section may be—
(i) Submitted for matching purposes in accordance with the requirements of 11 CFR 9034.2 and the Federal Election Commission's Guideline for Presentation in Good Order;
(ii) Used to pay a candidate's net outstanding campaign obligations as provided in 11 CFR 9034.5;
(iii) Used to defray qualified campaign expenses;
(iv) Used to defray exempt legal and accounting costs; or
(v) If in excess of a candidate's net outstanding campaign obligations or expenditure limit, used in any manner consistent with 11 CFR 113.2, including repayment of funds under 11 CFR part 9038.
(b) Fundraising representatives—(1) Establishment or selection of fundraising representative. The participants in a joint fundraising effort under this section shall either establish a separate committee or select a participating committee, to act as fundraising representative for all participants. The fundraising representative shall be a reporting political committee and an authorized committee of each candidate. If the participants establish a separate committee to act as the fundraising representative, the separate committee shall not be a participant in any other joint fundraising effort, but the separate committee may conduct more than one joint fundraising effort for the participants.
(2) Separate fundraising committee as fundraising representative. A separate fundraising committee established by the participants to act as fundraising representative for all participants shall—
(i) Be established as a reporting political committee under 11 CFR 100.5;
(ii) Collect contributions;
(iii) Pay fundraising costs from gross proceeds and funds advanced by participants; and
(iv) Disburse net proceeds to each participant.
(3) Participating committee as fundraising representative. A participant selected to act as fundraising representative for all participants shall—
(i) Be a political committee as defined in 11 CFR 100.5;
(ii) Collect contributions; however, other participants may also collect contributions and then forward them to the fundraising representative as required by 11 CFR 102.8;
(iii) Pay fundraising costs from gross proceeds and funds advanced by participants; and
(iv) Disburse net proceeds to each participant.
(4) Independent fundraising agent. The participants or the fundraising representative may hire a commercial fundraising firm or other agent to assist in conducting the joint fundraising activity. In that case, however, the fundraising representative shall still be responsible for ensuring that the recordkeeping, reporting and documentation requirements set forth in this subchapter are met.
(c) Joint fundraising procedures. Any joint fundraising activity under this section shall be conducted in accordance with the following requirements:
(1) Written agreement. The participants in a joint fundraising activity shall enter into a written agreement, whether or not all participants are political committees under 11 CFR 100.5. The written agreement shall identify the fundraising representative and shall state a formula for the allocation of fundraising proceeds. The formula shall be stated as the amount or percentage of each contribution received to be allocated to each participant. The fundraising representative shall retain the written agreement for a period of three years and shall make it available to the Commission on request.
(2) Funds advanced for fundraising costs.
(i) Except as provided in 11 CFR 9034.8(c)(2)(ii), the amount of funds advanced by each participant for fundraising costs shall be in proportion to the allocation formula agreed upon under 11 CFR 9034.8(c)(1).
(ii) A participant may advance more than its proportionate share of the fundraising costs; however, the amount advanced which is in excess of the participant's proportionate share shall not exceed the amount that participant could legally contribute to the remaining participants. See 11 CFR 102.12(c)(2), part 110, and 9034.4(b)(6).
(3) Fundraising notice. In addition to any notice required under 11 CFR 110.11, a joint fundraising notice shall be included with every solicitation for contributions.
(i) This notice shall include the following information:
(A) The names of all committees participating in the joint fundraising activity whether or not such committees are political committees under 11 CFR 100.5;
(B) The allocation formula to be used for distributing joint fundraising proceeds;
(C) A statement informing contributors that, notwithstanding the stated allocation formula, they may designate their contributions for a particular participant or participants; and
(D) A statement informing contributors that the allocation formula may change if a contributor makes a contribution which would exceed the amount that contributor may give to any participant.
(ii) If one or more participants engage in the joint fundraising activity solely to satisfy outstanding debts, the notice shall also contain a statement informing contributors that the allocation formula may change if a participant receives sufficient funds to pay its outstanding debts.
(4) Separate depository account.
(i) The participants or the fundraising representative shall establish a separate depository account to be used solely for the receipt and disbursement of the joint fundraising proceeds. All contributions deposited into the separate depository account must be permissible under Title 52, United States Code. Each political committee shall amend its Statement of Organization to reflect the account as an additional depository.
(ii) The fundraising representative shall deposit all joint fundraising proceeds in the separate depository account within ten days of receipt as required by 11 CFR 103.3. The fundraising representative may delay distribution of the fundraising proceeds to the participants until all contributions are received and all expenses are paid.
(iii) For contribution reporting and limitation purposes, the date of receipt of a contribution by a participating political committee is the date that the contribution is received by the fundraising representative. The fundraising representative shall report contributions in the reporting period in which they are received. Participating political committees shall report joint fundraising proceeds in accordance with 11 CFR 9034.8(c)(9) when such funds are received from the fundraising representative.
(5) Recordkeeping requirements.
(i) The fundraising representative and participating committees shall screen all contributions received to insure that the prohibitions and limitations of 11 CFR parts 110 and 114 are observed. Participating political committees shall make their contributor records available to the fundraising representative to enable the fundraising representative to carry out its duty to screen contributions.
(ii) The fundraising representative shall collect and retain contributor information with regard to gross proceeds as required under 11 CFR 102.8 and shall also forward such information to participating political committees.
(iii) The fundraising representative shall retain the records required under 11 CFR 9033.11 regarding fundraising disbursements for a period of three years. Commercial fundraising firms or agents shall forward such information to the fundraising representative.
(6) Contribution limitations. Except to the extent that the contributor has previously contributed to any of the participants, a contributor may make a contribution to the joint fundraising effort which contribution represents the total amount that the contributor could contribute to all of the participants under the applicable limits of 11 CFR 110.1 and 110.2.
(7) Allocation of gross proceeds.
(i) The fundraising representative shall allocate proceeds according to the formula stated in the fundraising agreement. Each contribution received shall be allocated among the participants in accordance with the allocation formula, unless the circumstances described in paragraphs (c)(7) (ii), (iii) or (iv) of this section apply. Funds may not be distributed or reallocated so as to maximize the matchability of the contributions.
(ii) If distribution according to the allocation formula extinguishes the debts of one or more participants or if distribution under the formula results in a violation of the contribution limits of 11 CFR 110.1(b), the fundraising representative may reallocate the surplus funds. The fundraising representative shall not reallocate funds so as to allow candidates seeking to extinguish outstanding debts to rely on the receipt of matching funds to pay the remainder of their debts; rather, all funds to which a participant is entitled under the allocation formula shall be deemed funds available to pay the candidate's outstanding campaign obligations as provided in 11 CFR 9034.5(c).
(iii) Reallocation shall be based upon the remaining participant's proportionate shares under the allocation formula. If reallocation results in a violation of a contributor's limit under 11 CFR 110.1, the fundraising representative shall return to the contributor the amount of the contribution that exceeds the limit.
(iv) Earmarked contributions which exceed the contributor's limit to the designated participant under 11 CFR part 110 may not be reallocated by the fundraising representative without the prior written permission of the contributor. A written instrument made payable to one of the participants shall be considered an earmarked contribution unless a written statement by the contributor indicates that it is intended for inclusion in the general proceeds of the fundraising activity.
(8) Allocation of expenses and distribution of net proceeds.
(i) If participating committees are not affiliated as defined in 11 CFR 110.3 prior to the joint fundraising activity and are not committees of the same political party:
(A) After gross contributions are allocated among the participants under 11 CFR 9034.8(c)(7), the fundraising representative shall calculate each participant's share of expenses based on the percentage of the total receipts each participant had been allocated. To calculate each participant's net proceeds, the fundraising representative shall subtract the participant's share of expenses from the amount that participant has been allocated from gross proceeds.
(B) A participant may only pay expenses on behalf of another participant subject to the contribution limits of 11 CFR part 110. See also 11 CFR 9034.4(b)(6).
(C) The expenses from a series of fundraising events or activities shall be allocated among the participants on a per-event basis regardless of whether the participants change or remain the same throughout the series.
(ii) If participating committees are affiliated as defined in 11 CFR 110.3 prior to the joint fundraising activity or if participants are party committees of the same political party, expenses need not be allocated among those participants. Payment of such expenses by an unregistered committee or organization on behalf of an affiliated political committee may cause the unregistered organization to become a political committee.
(iii) Payment of expenses may be made from gross proceeds by the fundraising representative.
(9) Reporting of receipts and disbursements—(i) Reporting receipts.
(A) The fundraising representative shall report all funds received in the reporting period in which they are received. Each Schedule A filed by the fundraising representative under this section shall clearly indicate that the contributions reported on that schedule represent joint fundraising proceeds.
(B) After distribution of net proceeds, each participating political committee shall report its share of net proceeds received as a transfer-in from the fundraising representative. Each participating political committee shall also file a memo Schedule A itemizing its share of gross receipts as contributions from original contributors to the extent required under 11 CFR 104.3(a).
(ii) Reporting disbursements. The fundraising representative shall report all disbursements in the reporting period in which they are made. Each participant shall report in a memo Schedule B his or her total allocated share of these disbursements in the same reporting period in which net proceeds are distributed and reported and include the amount on page 4 of Form 3–P, under “Expenditures Subject to Limit.”