Issue #249: Read this before you give $$$ to a candidate

Hi y’all —

This is a sequel to last week’s newsletter, which was a timely investigation into why politicians text everyday folks like you and me to beg for campaign donations. (TL;DR: They need money, and all those tiny contributions make them look good.) If you missed it, check out the piece here.

Now that we know the why, it’s time to focus on the how. Let’s say those overly dramatic requests from Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their respective supporters worked, and I’ve been convinced to throw the 2024 presidential candidates a few bucks. What next?

I talked to experts to put together a brief list of what to know before making a political donation for the first time. Here’s what they said.

1. There’s a limit

Under federal law, an individual can give a candidate committee — which, as you’d expect, is the official committee behind a specific candidate — up to $3,300 per election. Shanna Ports, senior legal counsel in campaign finance at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, says that because the presidential race involves both a primary and a general election, you can technically contribute as much as $6,600.

This is a direct contribution, meaning that money “goes right to the candidate the person likes, and the candidate can use that money to run their campaign however they see fit,” Ports says.

An individual can also give a political action committee (or PAC) as much as $5,000, a state/district/local party committee $10,000, and a national party committee $41,300 per year.

2. It’s public record

Conor Dowling, a political science professor at the University at Buffalo, says that you can generally give up to $50 anonymously to a candidate. Over that amount, he adds, there are more “stringent reporting requirements.”

When a campaign has to report to the Federal Election Commission, it will put your name and mailing address on file for donations in excess of $50. Over $200, it’ll have to disclose your name, mailing address, occupation and employer.

“A contribution is, by federal law, public under certain conditions,” says Jennifer Heerwig, a political sociologist at Stony Brook University. “It's not like a vote where you go into the voting booth and vote for the candidate you want and nobody ever knows.”

Anyone can look up FEC reports. Depending on your lifestyle, having your contributions attached to your name might be undesirable — or, in extreme cases, come back to bite you. Recently, for instance, reporters dug up Trump’s $6,000 donation to Harris’ re-election campaigns for California attorney general in 2011 and 2013 — contributions that weren't necessarily notable at the time but have taken on new meaning now that they’re running against each other for the presidency.

3. You have options

You don’t have to give directly to a candidate in order to make an impact. Heerwig says it’s common for first-time donors to use platforms like ActBlue and WinRed, which she calls “conduits for donations.”

ActBlue supports Democrats, WinRed supports Republicans, and both are intended to make it easier for folks to donate money. With sleek websites and shareable links, they offer you the opportunity to donate a sum to a cause, ballot initiative or movement. Often, Ports says, you can make one contribution to a bundle of candidates with a shared mission, and the website will divide that money up among them. (Note that both platforms report all donations, even ones under the aforementioned $50 threshold.)

You may also choose to contribute to a party committee or a PAC that aligns with your values.

Ports points to EMILYs List as an example. If you’re not interested in paying attention to every single race but know you generally support progressive women with a focus on abortion rights, you might want to give to EMILYs List and let it make the call on what to do with your dollars (whether that’s passing it onto candidates in close races, running ads or something else).

4. You can use a credit card

In theory, you’re donating because you want to invest in a brighter future for America. But in reality, you probably want something in return.

Political donations are not tax-deductible, regardless of whether they’re made to a candidate, a party, a lobbyist group, a PAC or some other entity involved in campaigning. But you might be able to get a different perk: If you normally earn rewards on your credit card transactions, you can score points for political donations. (I confirmed this with Chase and Citi specifically, but it likely applies to other lenders, too.)

In addition to the potential for points, it’s generally a smart practice to use your credit card to pay for things whenever you can because they have stronger fraud protections than debit cards. Campaign contributions are no exception.

Alas, the downside here is that if you use your credit card to make an online political contribution, your recipient of choice might not get 100% of your cash. That’s because, like with everyday transactions, several groups get a cut of your credit card payment (the bank that issues your card, your credit card company, the campaign’s bank and so on). WinRed, for instance, charges a 3.94% fee on donations under $500.

5. Sooner is better than later

Ports says that although a lot of folks wait to contribute to candidates until the fall “because that’s when everyone’s attention switches” to the election in earnest, giving earlier in the cycle can be beneficial.

You’ll remember from last week that donations are important for lesser-known challengers because they can show the public that a candidate has a fighting chance. That’s why the news media tends to make such a big deal about those early-campaign fundraising numbers. (Plus, research shows that having deep pockets can help guide challengers to a win.)

“The more they have up front, the better they can plan,” Dowling adds. “That said, they’ll take money whenever they can get it.”