The federal campaign finance rules in 11 CFR translate the Federal Election Campaign Act into working requirements: who has to register with the Federal Election Commission, how much money can move between donors, committees, and candidates, what must be disclosed to the public, how campaign money can be spent, and what happens when someone breaks the rules. The regulations run from a candidate’s first $5,000 in activity through the final report that closes a committee down, and they set the current $3,500-per-election individual contribution limit for the 2025–2026 cycle.1Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026
When You Have to Register
A person becomes a federal candidate the moment contributions received or expenditures made on their behalf pass $5,000. From that point, there are 15 days to file FEC Form 2, the Statement of Candidacy, and to designate a principal campaign committee.2Federal Election Commission. Instructions for Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2) Money raised by others with the candidate’s consent counts toward the threshold, so handing fundraising off to a friend or adviser does not reset the clock.
Any group that receives contributions or makes expenditures over $1,000 in a calendar year is a “political committee” and must register with the FEC.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30101 – Definitions Registered committees fall into a handful of categories. Separate segregated funds are PACs sponsored by a corporation or union that raise from a restricted class of executives, shareholders, or members. Nonconnected committees are independent PACs that raise from the general public. Party committees operate at the national, state, and local levels. Super PACs, formally called independent expenditure-only committees, may accept unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, and unions but cannot contribute to candidates or coordinate with campaigns.4Federal Election Commission. Political Action Committees (PACs)
A PAC that has been registered at least six months, taken contributions from more than 50 people, and given to at least five federal candidates becomes a “multicandidate committee.” Within ten days of hitting all three, the committee files Form 1M.5Federal Election Commission. Instructions for Notification of Multicandidate Status The status matters because it raises the PAC’s per-candidate contribution limit from $3,500 to $5,000 per election.
Every committee needs a treasurer. No contribution can be accepted and no expenditure made when the position is vacant, and no money leaves the account without the treasurer’s authorization.6eCFR. 11 CFR 102.7 – Organization of Political Committees A designated assistant treasurer can cover temporary absences, but somebody is always on the hook.
Contribution Limits and Who Cannot Give
Limits are adjusted for inflation every odd-numbered year. For 2025–2026, an individual may give:
- $3,500 per election to a candidate committee, with the primary and general counted separately (so $7,000 per candidate per cycle)
- $5,000 per year to a PAC
- $10,000 per year combined to state, district, and local party committees
- $44,300 per year to a national party committee1Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026
Multicandidate PACs may give $5,000 per election to a candidate, $5,000 per year to another PAC, and $15,000 per year to a national party committee. National party committees may give $5,000 per election to a candidate, and a national party committee together with its Senate campaign committee may give a combined $62,000 per campaign to each Senate candidate.1Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026
Some sources are prohibited entirely. Corporations and labor organizations cannot make contributions or expenditures in connection with federal elections, though they may fund a separate segregated fund and pay its administrative costs.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30118 – Contributions or Expenditures by National Banks, Corporations, or Labor Organizations Federal government contractors cannot give while negotiating or performing a contract.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30119 – Contributions by Government Contractors Foreign nationals are barred outright. Super PACs are the exception on corporate and union money, because they spend independently and never give directly to candidates.4Federal Election Commission. Political Action Committees (PACs)
Cash contributions are capped at $100 per source per campaign. Anonymous cash over $50 cannot be kept for the campaign and must be disposed of for purposes unrelated to any federal election.9Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits
Independent Spending vs. Coordinated Spending
How outside money is spent decides how the law treats it. An independent expenditure pays for a communication that expressly advocates for or against a clearly identified candidate and is made without any cooperation, consultation, or coordination with the candidate’s campaign.10Federal Election Commission. Understanding Independent Expenditures These have no dollar cap, which is why a super PAC can spend heavily in a single race.
Coordinated spending is different. When someone outside a campaign pays for a communication in cooperation with the campaign, the payment is treated as an in-kind contribution and is subject to the ordinary contribution limits. The FEC applies a three-part test looking at the source of the payment, the content of the communication, and the conduct between the payer and the campaign. If a corporation or union funds a coordinated communication, the result is a prohibited contribution, not just an excessive one.10Federal Election Commission. Understanding Independent Expenditures
Disclaimers on Political Ads
Public communications paid for by a political committee, or by anyone else and expressly advocating for or against a candidate, must carry a disclaimer identifying who paid. The wording depends on the relationship to the candidate: a campaign’s own ad says the authorized committee paid for it; an ad authorized by the candidate but paid for by someone else names the payer and notes the authorization; an ad not authorized by any candidate names the payer along with a street address, phone number, or website, and states that no candidate or candidate’s committee authorized it.
On printed materials, the disclaimer sits in its own box, in a readable typeface with clear contrast against the background. A 12-point font satisfies the size rule for materials up to 24 by 36 inches. Television and radio ads have their own format rules, including stand-by-your-ad requirements for candidate-authorized spots.11eCFR. 11 CFR 110.11 – Communications; Advertising; Disclaimers
Reporting and Record-Keeping
Any contributor who gives more than $200 in a calendar year (or election cycle, for authorized candidate committees) must be itemized by full name, mailing address, occupation, and employer.12eCFR. 11 CFR 104.3 – Contents of Reports That itemized data is what feeds the FEC’s public database.
Because donors sometimes leave the form blank, the rule is “best efforts” rather than a guarantee. Every solicitation must ask for the required information in a clear request. If a contribution over $200 arrives incomplete, the treasurer sends a follow-up within 30 days by letter, email, or phone. The follow-up cannot be turned into another fundraising pitch, and a mailed request must include a pre-addressed return envelope. If the donor never responds, the committee falls back to whatever information it already has on file for the same election cycle.13Federal Election Commission. Best Efforts to Document Receipts
House and Senate candidate committees file periodic reports on Form 3. PACs, party committees, and other unauthorized committees file on Form 3X.14Federal Election Commission. Instructions for FEC Form 3 and Related Schedules Every committee starts with Form 1, the Statement of Organization, which sets out its name, address, treasurer, and connected organization if there is one.15Federal Election Commission. Instructions for FEC Form 3X and Related Schedules
Records back up the reports. Treasurers must keep all supporting records — contribution records, bank statements, invoices, and best-efforts correspondence — for three years from the filing date of the report they support.16Federal Election Commission. Keeping Records Three years is a long time for paperwork to walk off if nobody organizes it on the way in.
How and When to File
Committees that receive contributions or make expenditures over $50,000 in a calendar year must file electronically.17eCFR. 11 CFR 104.18 – Electronic Filing The FEC’s FECFile software is free; approved commercial platforms also work. Electronic reports must be received and validated by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the deadline. Smaller committees below the threshold may file paper reports by certified or registered mail.
Reports come on one of two schedules. Quarterly filers submit four reports per year, each due 15 days after the close of a calendar quarter. Monthly filers submit twelve reports per year, plus pre-election and post-election reports during election years. Exact due dates for each cycle are on the FEC’s deadlines page.18Federal Election Commission. Dates and Deadlines A day late still triggers the administrative fine program.
Pre-Election 48-Hour and 24-Hour Notices
Close to an election, the regular schedule is too slow. Two accelerated notices fill the gap. A candidate committee files a 48-hour notice (Form 6) for any individual contribution of $1,000 or more received between the 20th day before the election and 48 hours before it, with the notice due within 48 hours of receipt. The rule covers self-funding by the candidate, in-kind contributions, earmarked funds, and loan endorsements.19Federal Election Commission. 48-Hour Notices
Anyone making independent expenditures that aggregate $1,000 or more for a given election, during the window after the 20th day before the election but more than 24 hours before it, must file a 24-hour independent expenditure report. Each additional $1,000 aggregated triggers another report.20Federal Election Commission. 24-Hour Reports for Independent Expenditure Filers
Personal Use of Campaign Funds
Campaign money is for campaign expenses. The FEC applies an “irrespective test”: if the expense would exist regardless of the campaign or federal office, campaign funds cannot pay for it.21Federal Election Commission. Personal Use That rules out mortgage, rent, and utilities for a personal residence (even one that doubles as a campaign office), and the committee cannot rent space from the candidate’s own home. It rules out clothing like a tuxedo for a fundraiser or a suit for a debate, though branded low-cost items like T-shirts and caps are fine. Tuition is out unless it trains campaign staff. Tickets to sporting events, concerts, and theater are out unless the event is itself a specific campaign or officeholder activity. Country club, health club, and recreational dues are out unless tied to a specific fundraising event at the facility. Campaign funds cannot buy securities on margin or fund other personal investments. These limits apply to current and former candidates alike, so winding down a committee does not free the remaining balance for personal spending.
Penalties and Advisory Opinions
Late and unfiled reports move through the administrative fine program. Penalties come from a pre-set formula that scales with the committee’s financial activity and how many days the report is late; the FEC publishes the formula and a calculator.
Knowing and willful violations are more serious. For most, the FEC can seek a civil penalty up to the greater of $10,000 or 200% of the amount involved, whether through a conciliation agreement or a court action. Straw-donor violations (giving in the name of another person) carry a penalty of at least 300% of the amount involved and potentially up to the greater of $50,000 or 1,000% of the amount involved.22Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 52 USC 30109 – Enforcement The 300% figure is sometimes described as a general ceiling; it is not — it targets contributions made in another person’s name.
Uncertainty about how the law applies to a planned activity can be resolved before the fact. Any person or committee can request an advisory opinion, and a good-faith action taken in reliance on the FEC’s written response is shielded from enforcement on the covered activity. The safe harbor formally protects only the requester, but published opinions guide anyone in similar circumstances.
Closing Down a Committee
A committee that has stopped operating cannot just stop filing. Terminating registration requires a final report showing no further contributions or disbursements and zero outstanding debts, and the report must disclose how any remaining funds will be used. For a principal campaign committee, all of the candidate’s other authorized committees must also be debt-free before termination.23GovInfo. 11 CFR 102.4 – Termination of Registration
Inactive committees still carrying debt have a different route. The FEC can administratively terminate a committee’s reporting obligations when several conditions are met, including aggregate financial activity under $5,000 in the prior year, no new contributions received, minimal expenditures, and debts that do not appear to violate contribution limits. The treasurer submits a written request to the FEC’s Reports Analysis Division describing eligibility and the efforts made to settle debts. Until the FEC approves the request in writing, the committee keeps filing regular reports.24Federal Election Commission. Terminating a Committee Skipping this step is how defunct committees rack up late-filing fines with no money and no activity to show for them.