Federal Election Commission Main Page
September 26, 1980
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
ADVISORY OPINION 1980-99
Kirk Alan Pessner
Treasurer
Northern California Republican Roundup
One Maritime Plaza
Suite 2500
San Francisco, California 94111
Dear Mr. Pessner:
This is in response to your letter of August 14, 1980,
requesting an advisory opinion on behalf of the Republican
Roundup Committee ("the Committee") concerning application
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended ("the
Act"), and Commission regulations to the contribution accounting
procedures used by the Committee.
Your letter states that the Republican Roundup is registered
with the Commission as a political committee. The Committee
intends to host several events to raise money for Republican
candidates in four California counties. The cost of each event
will range from $5 to $25 per person. Hundreds of people are
expected to attend each event, but few people are expected to
attend more than one. You ask whether cumulative donor records
must be kept by the Committee of contributions under $50 for
aggregation and reporting purposes.
Under 2 U.S.C. SS 432(c)(1), the treasurer of a political
committee is required to "keep an account of all contributions
received by or on behalf of such committee." For each contribution
in excess of $50, a record of the name and address of the
contributor as well as the date and amount of the contribution
must be retained. If the contributions received from an individual
during a calendar year aggregate in excess of $200, the record
kept by the committee must reflect the contributor's name,
address, occupation, name of his or her employer and the date
and amount of the contribution(s). 2 U.S.C. SS 432(c)(2).
These statutory requirements are incorporated into the Commission's
regulations at 11 CFR 102.9. While neither the statute nor
the Commission's regulations set forth a specific recordkeeping
procedure for contributions under $50, the regulations at section
102.9(a) do state that "an account [of all contributions received]
shall be kept by any reasonable accounting procedure." The
question then becomes what constitutes a reasonable accounting
procedure for small contributions.
There are at least two possible accounting methods which would
satisfy the recordkeeping requirement for contributions under $50.
An account could be kept, as for contributions over $50, of the name
and address of each contributor and the date and amount of the
contribution. This system could be easily implemented for contributions
made by check. An alternative method would be to record
the name of the event, the date(s) contributions were received for
that event, and the total amount of contributions received on each
day for that event. This method would facilitate accounting for
gate receipts and small cash contributions.
If the committee retains information on the names of its
contributors, it should also track the amount donated by such
persons to the committee on a calendar year basis for aggregation
purposes in accordance with 2 U.S.C. SS 432(c)(3) and 11 CFR 102.9
(a)(2). If, on the other hand, the second suggested procedure
is implemented, the committee would nevertheless be required
to comply with 2 U.S.C. SS 432(c) and 11 CFR 102.9 with respect
to contributions in excess of $50.
This opinion is limited to the factual situation presented.
The Commission expresses no opinion on the accounting procedures
to be implemented if any of the events contemplated are joint
fundraisers for the candidates to be benefited, whether any in-kind
contributions to the candidates benefited would result from any of
the events described, or whether the committee would be subject
to the provisions of 11 CFR 110.6 due to the nature of the fundraising
involved.
This response constitutes an advisory opinion concerning the
application of the Act, or regulations prescribed by the Commission,
to the specific transaction or activity set forth in your request.
See 2 U.S.C. SS 437f.