Congressional District Committee Documents

Purpose:

The purpose of these policies are to lay out simple processes and procedures for DPO Congressional District Committees (CDCs) to propose and set a budget, raise funds and make expenditures within DPO financial systems.

Rules and Guidance

Finance:

Budgeting and Planning:

Each CDC may prepare an annual budget of projected income — earned through voluntary dues and contributions — and projected expenditures for approval by the DPO Admin Committee.  If a CDC does not currently have an approved budget it my submit a proposed budget to the Admin Committee 30 days prior to an Admin Committee meeting for review and approval.  If a CDC has a previously approved budget, the budget for a new fiscal year must be submitted to the Admin Committee no later than 5 p.m. on the last day of the third quarter of the preceding year.

The DPO budget covers pre-approved nominal costs for CDCs to rent spaces for their regular meetings.

Because CDCs are part of the DPO, any failure by CDCs to comply with federal or state campaign finance laws could subject the Party to costly fines, and reduce our ability to help Democrats win elections.

CDCs are governed by the same laws and regulations that govern the State Central Committee (SCC) and Admin Committee, and are charged by the DPO By-laws with complying with the regulations and financial requirements of the SCC. This also applies to committees, work groups, or any other aspects of CDCs.

Income:

Tracking Donations:

Funds that are identified as donations made through the efforts of a CDC will be tracked for the purpose of making expenditures for activities that advance the interests of the responsible CDC and the DPO.

Members of CDCs are encouraged to participate in the donor programs and fundraising events of the DPO. CDCs may wish to track these contributions for the purpose of demonstrating how many CDC members are participating in DPO donor programs, but donations received through DPO donor programs and events are not “double- counted” as raised through the efforts of CDCs.

Online Donations:

The DPO will identify one-time donations made through a CDC donation web page as made through the efforts of that CDC. Recurring donations will not be identified with the CDC.

Offline Donations:

All other donations accepted by a CDC on behalf of the DPO will be separately tracked by the CDC and reported to the DPO Compliance Officer upon delivery of the contribution to the DPO.

To meet federal campaign finance requirements, all such offline donations must be delivered to the DPO Compliance Officer no later than 6 days after the contribution is received.

CDC Treasurers are responsible for collecting the necessary reporting information from each donor and delivering it to the DPO Compliance Officer. The DPO Compliance Officer will provide training and reporting forms to each CDC Treasurer.

Expenditures:

All expenditures of any amount must be approved by the DPO.

Here’s the process: at least 30 days in advance of an expenditure, the CDC Treasurer will email a request for approval to the DPO Executive Director ([email protected]) and DPO Compliance Officer ([email protected]). The request for expenditure will be reviewed by the Admin Committee and then, on approval, be paid directly to the designated vendor or service provider.

The amount of an expenditure made on behalf of a CDC will be based on the amount of donations raised by a CDC and the requirements of the project.

CDC expenditures may be suspended if the Admin Committee determines that the CDC or DPO’s income may not meet operational expenses.

Events:

CDCs that wish to do an event must submit a plan and event budget to the designated DPO staff 60 days before the event. The cost of any needed DPO support for the event will be added to the budget and reimbursed to the DPO from event proceeds.

The CDC and the DPO staff will create an event “memorandum of understanding” to clarify the roles and expectations of the CDC and DPO staff.

Contributing to Candidates:

Because federal election law recognizes contributions by any element of the DPO — including CDCs — as contributions by the DPO, CDCs may not directly contribute to a candidate’s election.

While CDCs may organize volunteers or promote “meet and greet” events to support a candidate, CDCs may not make in-kind expenditures that benefit a candidate without prior approval of the Admin Committee. In addition, an CDC may not make expenditures to host an event where the purpose is to raise funds for a candidate prior approval of both the Admin Committee and the candidate.

Printed Materials:

To ensure compliance with federal campaign laws, CDCs must submit the following to designated DPO staff for approval 30 days prior to distribution or publication: flyers, bumper stickers, buttons or “swag,” posters, or any other printed material.

Websites:

We recognize the value of CDCs having a web presence to coordinate activities, attract new members, and raise funds. Because CDCs are part of the Party, it’s important to have that presence hosted by the DPO so that it can be maintained by DPO staff and understood by the public as being recognized by the Party.

Upon request, DPO staff will create web pages for each CDC that allow the CDC to receive single (not recurring) contributions by credit card, add and edit content, sign up new members, communicate with CDC officers, post events, and blog.

Online Advertising:

All online advertising must go through the expenditure process (as outlined in “Expenditures,” above), and the content of all advertising must be reviewed and approved by the Executive Director and the Compliance Director.

Meetings:

The DPO budget covers pre-approved nominal costs for CDCs to rent spaces for their regular meetings.

CDCs may also meet at any free public venue. All meetings and events should be submitted to the DPO web site calendar as soon as they are scheduled (go to www.dpo.org/events/calendar and click the “Add+” button).

CDCs may not schedule meetings at DPO headquarters without prior approval from DPO Staff ([email protected]).