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Money & Fundraising blog
How to read a campaign finance report the way an auditor wouldWalk through a federal campaign finance report on the FEC site: receipts, spending, cash, debts and the questions a skeptical voter should ask.How campaign finance law works, and why you should check the FEC for the numbersHow federal campaign finance law is built, from FECA and Buckley to McCain-Feingold and Citizens United, and why the dollar limits are best read at fec.gov.Hosting a candidate in your living room without breaking the lawA checklist for a house-party fundraiser, from guest list and invitation to food, in-kind rules, collecting checks and follow-up, with the FEC as final word.McKinley and Bryan in 1896 Compared as Two Ways to Run for PresidentOne man crossed the country by train and the other stayed on his porch, and the porch won. A side-by-side look at money, message, machine and map.A campaign budget worksheet for the candidate with no money and no staffA line-by-line budget worksheet for a small local race, with cost per contact for mail, doors and phones and a hypothetical council race priced to the dollar.The fundraising call sheet, how a first-time candidate asks for moneyA call-time playbook for first-time candidates: build the list in tiers, make a specific ask, handle no, record pledges, follow up, and stay inside the law.The Citizens United Case Began With a Movie, and Banning Books Was on the TableThe best case against Citizens United is about corruption. The reply is that the law at issue let the government restrict a documentary and arguably a book.