WFRW Campaign Guidelines
Campaign Guidelines for Candidate Support, Fundraising and Endorsements
__________________________________________________
Shannon Motley, WFRW Campaign Chair | 206-491-0941| [email protected]
One of the most important aspects of the Campaign Committee is to keep the WFRW Clubs free of PDC violations. As a result of misunderstandings in the past that placed the WFRW and clubs in a disparity with the Public Disclosure Commission rules, new WFRW guidelines were established. It is the policy of the WFRW that that member clubs adhere to the following guidelines concerning donations to political candidates, fundraising efforts and endorsements.
The WFRW is a political organization regulated by the IRS as a 527 Organization, which has tax ex-exempt standing. A 527 is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office. The WFRW primary focus is to educate the electorate.
The NFRW Endorsement Policy states that clubs and states cannot endorse in GOP primaries or in non-partisan races where two or more known Republicans are in the same race. You may not endorse a split ticket.
Do not use your website or social media to promote one candidate over another, even if the candidate in question is a member of your club.
If you opt to share information about any Republican candidate’s campaign, you must share about all Republican candidates in that race.
I. Supporting Candidates:
1. A club is advised to avoid a line item in their budget report for direct candidate support.
2. A club is advised to avoid having a fundraiser for a specific candidate or for a group of candidates.
3. A club can provide direct candidate support when only one republican is in the election race, and only on an occasional basis. Donations to candidates will imply the club is operating like a political committee, which can lead to compliance problems.
II. Fundraising:
1. A club may have general fundraisers to maintain day-to-day operations and other discretionary budget items, however, candidate fundraisers as discussed are not allowed. Once the general operational expenses have been covered, a club may donate to the Washington State Republican Party, county party or legislative district. In turn, these political committees can of course provide candidate support since they report to the PDC as required.
2. If the club wishes to provide direct candidate support then they must file with the PDC.
3. While there are limits on club donations, club members are always encouraged to write personal checks to candidates. For example, the campaign contribution limit from an individual to a state executive, judicial or port commissioner is $2,000 per election, and the limit for legislative and local offices such as mayor or city council is $1000 per election.
4. Club members are always encouraged to participate in non-monetary ways to support candidate campaigns.
III. Endorsement of Candidates:
1. A local club “shall not publicly endorse any candidate for public office in any primary, runoff, special or non‐partisan race where two or more known Republicans are in the race.” Nor shall a club endorse any Federal race as per the FEC Rules, such as a presidential, congressional or senate race.
NFRW Endorsement Policy: Requires NFRW Login
WFRW Endorsement Policy
Q & A – Discussion Points:
1). Can a club have a fundraiser for candidates in their district?
WFRW clubs cannot hold fundraisers for candidates unless the club has filed with the PDC as a political action committee. To form a PAC with the PDC refer to 5.), and to the supplementary campaign booklet, which provides steps to form a political committee.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
2). Can a club support Republicans running in non-partisan offices?
The ability to support candidates running in a non-partisan race are described in the Candidate Contribution Policy in the WFRW Standing Rules. In general, the policy requires a majority vote by the members in a general meeting providing the donation comes from the club reserves and all club financial expenses have been met.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
3). Can a club donate to a candidate running for a federal race?
Since our clubs are established as a federation in the State of Washington, we are under the jurisdiction of Washington State Campaign Finance Law. Clubs are not permitted to contribute to federal candidates directly, however, donations could be made to the Washington State Republican Party, which provides direct candidate supports to federal and state campaigns. While donations cannot be earmarked, it may be advisable to coordinate your support by calling the WSRP office.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
4). What are the contribution limits for candidates?
On the Contributors heading, RW clubs would fall under the category of PACs, unions, Corps and other entities. RW clubs are considered an entity and are subject to these campaign limits. As stated before we are federated and WFRW policy is that occasional contributions are acceptable, however frequent donations imply the club is acting like a political action committee.
Refer to the PDC chart titled Contribution Limits
5). How does a club form a political action committee (PAC) with the Public Disclosure Commission?
Refer to the following link on the PDC website titled, Political Committee Reporting Guide.
https://www.pdc.wa.gov/learn/publications/political-committee-reporting-guide
Steps to Register a Political Committee
To set-up or register your political committee with the Public Disclosure Commission takes several steps which are described in the video tutorial series published by the PDC. To access these videos, visit the PDC website at https://www.pdc.wa.gov/ Next select Learn > Guides and Training Videos. The four part series listed below, will guide you through the process to obtain a Secure Access Washington (SAW) account with the State of Washington, register your committee on the SAW account, gain access to an existing committee and generate an access token to connect or synchronize the SAW account with the financial reporting program called ORCA.
How to get a Secure Access Washington account
How to register a new candidate or committee
How to gain access to an existing committee
How to generate access token to sync registration data with ORCA
Other questions and scenarios:
If we worked on Strike Force Teams for key races in different states are we endorsing a candidate?
Good question. The short answer is no.
Strike Force Teams are organized by the RNC and we are the volunteers. It would be no different if county party or LD volunteers were the volunteers. Endorsement by an organization requires a meeting, a vote and minutes to verify the motion.
The WFRW is a political organization regulated by the IRS as a 527 Organization, which has tax ex-exempt standing. A 527 is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office. The WFRW primary focus is to educate the electorate.
The NFRW Endorsement Policy states that clubs and states cannot endorse in GOP primaries or in non-partisan races where two or more known Republicans are in the same race. You may not endorse a split ticket.
Do not use your website or social media to promote one candidate over another, even if the candidate in question is a member of your club.
If you opt to share information about any Republican candidate’s campaign, you must share about all Republican candidates in that race.
I. Supporting Candidates:
1. A club is advised to avoid a line item in their budget report for direct candidate support.
2. A club is advised to avoid having a fundraiser for a specific candidate or for a group of candidates.
3. A club can provide direct candidate support when only one republican is in the election race, and only on an occasional basis. Donations to candidates will imply the club is operating like a political committee, which can lead to compliance problems.
II. Fundraising:
1. A club may have general fundraisers to maintain day-to-day operations and other discretionary budget items, however, candidate fundraisers as discussed are not allowed. Once the general operational expenses have been covered, a club may donate to the Washington State Republican Party, county party or legislative district. In turn, these political committees can of course provide candidate support since they report to the PDC as required.
2. If the club wishes to provide direct candidate support then they must file with the PDC.
3. While there are limits on club donations, club members are always encouraged to write personal checks to candidates. For example, the campaign contribution limit from an individual to a state executive, judicial or port commissioner is $2,000 per election, and the limit for legislative and local offices such as mayor or city council is $1000 per election.
4. Club members are always encouraged to participate in non-monetary ways to support candidate campaigns.
III. Endorsement of Candidates:
1. A local club “shall not publicly endorse any candidate for public office in any primary, runoff, special or non‐partisan race where two or more known Republicans are in the race.” Nor shall a club endorse any Federal race as per the FEC Rules, such as a presidential, congressional or senate race.
NFRW Endorsement Policy: Requires NFRW Login
WFRW Endorsement Policy
Q & A – Discussion Points:
1). Can a club have a fundraiser for candidates in their district?
WFRW clubs cannot hold fundraisers for candidates unless the club has filed with the PDC as a political action committee. To form a PAC with the PDC refer to 5.), and to the supplementary campaign booklet, which provides steps to form a political committee.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
2). Can a club support Republicans running in non-partisan offices?
The ability to support candidates running in a non-partisan race are described in the Candidate Contribution Policy in the WFRW Standing Rules. In general, the policy requires a majority vote by the members in a general meeting providing the donation comes from the club reserves and all club financial expenses have been met.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
3). Can a club donate to a candidate running for a federal race?
Since our clubs are established as a federation in the State of Washington, we are under the jurisdiction of Washington State Campaign Finance Law. Clubs are not permitted to contribute to federal candidates directly, however, donations could be made to the Washington State Republican Party, which provides direct candidate supports to federal and state campaigns. While donations cannot be earmarked, it may be advisable to coordinate your support by calling the WSRP office.
Refer to WFRW Standing Rules: candidate fundraisers
4). What are the contribution limits for candidates?
On the Contributors heading, RW clubs would fall under the category of PACs, unions, Corps and other entities. RW clubs are considered an entity and are subject to these campaign limits. As stated before we are federated and WFRW policy is that occasional contributions are acceptable, however frequent donations imply the club is acting like a political action committee.
Refer to the PDC chart titled Contribution Limits
5). How does a club form a political action committee (PAC) with the Public Disclosure Commission?
Refer to the following link on the PDC website titled, Political Committee Reporting Guide.
https://www.pdc.wa.gov/learn/publications/political-committee-reporting-guide
Steps to Register a Political Committee
To set-up or register your political committee with the Public Disclosure Commission takes several steps which are described in the video tutorial series published by the PDC. To access these videos, visit the PDC website at https://www.pdc.wa.gov/ Next select Learn > Guides and Training Videos. The four part series listed below, will guide you through the process to obtain a Secure Access Washington (SAW) account with the State of Washington, register your committee on the SAW account, gain access to an existing committee and generate an access token to connect or synchronize the SAW account with the financial reporting program called ORCA.
How to get a Secure Access Washington account
How to register a new candidate or committee
How to gain access to an existing committee
How to generate access token to sync registration data with ORCA
Other questions and scenarios:
If we worked on Strike Force Teams for key races in different states are we endorsing a candidate?
Good question. The short answer is no.
Strike Force Teams are organized by the RNC and we are the volunteers. It would be no different if county party or LD volunteers were the volunteers. Endorsement by an organization requires a meeting, a vote and minutes to verify the motion.