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DPDC Candidate Support:
Campaign Funding, Budgeting, and Reporting

It takes money to persuade voters to elect your candidate and it takes money to get your targeted voters to cast their ballots. That's just a fact. Luckily, it's also a fact that the candidate with the most money is not at all guaranteed a win. 

 

Here are some additional facts:

1. There are federal and state laws governing who can donate to a campaign, how much they can donate, and how all of that needs to be reported.

2. You can self-fund your race if you choose not to solicit donations to your campaign.

3. In general, the bigger the race, the more money your campaign will need to spend. There are three main factors that drive the size of the campaign war-chest that you will need:

     a) How competitive is the race? How well is the opponent funded?

     b) What is the expected turnout and what is your Win Number?

     c) How many registered voters to you need to reach out to?

4. Every political campaign needs a well-managed budget and a plan to gain revenue.

5. Campaign expenses are predictable, depending on your campaign plan strategy and tactics.

 

See the sections below for downloadable tools for calculating your Win Number and your Budget.  You can also see some sample budgets for different Campaign funding levels and some ideas for Fundraising.

Finally, if your campaign will raise $5,000 or more, you are legally required to create a Candidate Campaign Committee and files Quarterly Financial Disclosure Statements. Link to the Illinois Election Board's Campaign DIsclosure Guide are provided.

Budgeting Details and Tools

Use the downloadable tools to help you calculate your Win Number and to then develop your Campaign Budget. We have also provided some generic sample budgets that give you an idea of how Campaigns with different amounts of available funds might best allocate their money.

Fundraising  

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REMEMBER: ALWAYS record the name, address, and occupation of any donor along with the date and amount of their donation

 

Some of the most common fundraising ideas are:

  1. Sign up for Actblue, the Democratic fundraising platform. Actblue accepts donations via credit or debit cards and retains 3.95% of donations via credit card. Use this link to get started: https://secure.actblue.com/pending_entities/new?source=homepage_header

  2. Put a Donate Button on your Website, your Facebook Page, and on any other digital communications that you send out. Make sure the Donate button goes straight to your Actblue donations page. You should also provide your potential donors with the information to donate via check, include the "Payable to" and mailing address information.

  3. Create a QR code to your Donations page and add it to literature, business cards, and flyers.

  4. Hold one or more Fundraiser events. Keep costs as low as possible for these events. Many bars and restaurants have a private room that you can reserve for either free or a low dollar cost. Do a cash bar and consider serving an array of appetizers or other lower cost items.

  5. Recruit friends and supporters to host a Meet and Greet at their home. Ask them to invite people from their own personal networks.

  6. Solicit donations from labor unions and activist groups.

  7. Send an email to everyone in your own personal network asking them for their financial support of your campaign.

Here are a few links to websites with additional fundraising ideas. 

https://www.anedot.com/blog/best-fundraising-ideas-for-political-campaigns

https://snowballfundraising.com/political-campaign-fundraising-ideas/

Required Financial
Disclosure

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REMEMBER: If your campaign will or does raise $5000 or more, you are legally required to do formal Financial Disclosure.

The Illinois Board of Elections maintains an entire website with links to anything and everything to do with the required Campaign Financial Disclosure. It publishes a Campaign Disclosure Candidate Guide which is the definitive word on disclosure regulations, and which can be downloaded from the website.

https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure.aspx?MID=rfZ%2buidMSDY%3d

At minimum, you must:

  1. Create a Candidate Committee for your campaign. Get an EIN for that Committee and open a bank account. You must designate a Campaign Manager and a Campaign Treasurer. These can be the same person and can be the candidate his or her self. File a D-1 with the Illinois Election Board.

  2. At the end of each Quarter, you must file a D-2, which identifies every contribution and every expense. You file online, using a system called IDIS 3, and so you must obtain a login and password by calling the Election Board,

  3. Contribution limits apply to different types of donors. You need to be aware of these statutory limits. The latest limits are always published in the Candidate Disclosure guide.

  4. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules to avoid being fined for improper or late reporting.

 

Llámanos:

1-331-806-3180

Envíenos un correo electrónico:

info@dupagedemocrats.com

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2024 por el Comité Central del Partido Demócrata del Condado de DuPage

Autorizado y pagado por el Partido Demócrata del Condado de DuPage. Una copia de nuestro informe presentado ante la Junta Estatal de Elecciones está (o estará) disponible en el sitio web oficial de la Junta ( www.elections.il.gov ) o se puede comprar en la Junta Estatal de Elecciones, Springfield, Illinois.

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