Report of the Top Seven All-Time Organization Donors

Introduction

Campaign finance is the money spent on supporting electoral campaigns in the United States at all levels of government. At the federal level, Congress is responsible for enacting campaign finance law, which is enforced by an independent federal body, the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Most campaign financing is privately financed by campaign donors, while public funding is available for qualifying presidential candidates during primaries and general elections. To qualify for public funding, one must be eligible for a government subsidy. Those who use public funding are subject to expenditure limits. Those who are running for state and local government offices are governed and regulated by state and local finance law. State and local laws differ from state to state; thus, some states allow corporate and union contributions to campaigns while others do not. The only four states that do not have a contribution limit include Utah, Oregon, Missouri, and Virginia. The thesis of this paper is the 2016 presidential race campaign funding report by each candidate and the report of top organizations that have contributed to campaign finance.

Influence and Lobbying

Organization Profile Report

Organizations include corporations, unions, and super PACs. Therefore, organizations’ funds have played an important role in funding political campaigns. Organizations have managed to give more funds to campaigns than individuals alone. Thus, organizations’ money is a crucial source of campaign funds. They have contributed money to individual politicians and media and through lobbying efforts. Therefore, organizations have made their voices heard with the aim of influencing elected officials and enacting legislation that protects their economic, political, and social interests.

Historically, top organizations have contributed to campaigns with the aim of protecting their interests.

Report of the Top Seven All-Time Organization Donors

The Service Employees International Union is the biggest contributor of all time to campaign funds in American history. Therefore, all the above organizations are the top seven contributors to American politics.

There are different types of organizations that fund campaigns, including lobbying and business organizations. Union organizations fund political campaigns to expand their influence on policies that will favor their interests. Also, lobbying organizations are those organizations that contribute to campaigns in order to influence Congress on certain bills that favor their interests. Campaign funds are contributed by both individuals and organizations. Also, these organizations fund either a Republican or Democratic candidate. Moreover, most organizations have consistently funded a particular party’s candidate during every election period.

Therefore, lobbying organizations fund campaigns with special interests; lobbying describes the scenario where a group with special interests hires well-connected lawyers to advocate for certain bills to policymakers in the United States.

Although organizations contribute a lot of cash to campaigns, corporations and unions are not allowed to donate directly to candidates and the national party. One disadvantage of personal donations is that campaigns look out for “bundlers”; thus, individuals can gather donations from different organizations and individuals and contribute the sum to the campaign.

Politicians & Elections

2016 Presidential Race Campaign Funding by Candidate

The 2016 race began early with high numbers of potential candidates lobbying for party donors (Charity Navigator, n.d.). Donors play an important role in funding candidate campaigns. Therefore, the candidates assembled teams that were later led by campaign staff. The amount raised by the 2016 presidential race candidates was $1.5 billion, and the amount raised by the super PACs supporting them was $618 million.

Funds by Each Candidate

Candidate Committee Money

Hillary Clinton had the biggest contributions compared to other candidates, but Donald Trump won the election. Therefore, campaign funds help candidates conduct their campaigns, but that doesn’t mean that the money will make them win elections. Raising money enables candidates to spend that money on campaigns; thus, raising money is the first step for any candidate who is running. The money raised must be reported to the Federal Election Commission. Committee money is money raised by the candidate’s super PACs, while outside money is money raised from organizations and other well-wishers.

Political action committees (PACs) contributed much of the money that was used in the 2016 presidential campaigns. Super PACs are organizations for or against certain political candidates. An organization becomes a PAC if it can spend more than $1,000 to influence an election. Therefore, super PACs were the biggest contributors to the funds that were used in the 2016 race.

Conclusion

The finding of the report is that the candidates are using a lot of funds in their campaigns. Those who are running for state and local government offices are governed and regulated by state and local finance law. The presidential race used $1.5 billion in campaign funds. Also, organizations use a lot of cash to fund candidates who are running for office. There is less use of public funding since candidates are subject to expenditure limits. Therefore, most of the funds that are used in elections come from private citizens and organizations.

References

Charity Navigator. (n.d.). Ratings methodology. https://www.charitynavigator.org/about-us/our-methodology/ratings/

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