blog – PAC Management Solutions (PASS)

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Should You Worry About Pay to Play?

Apr 29, 2025 Ken Davis

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Should You Worry About Pay to Play?

Apr 29, 2025 Ken Davis

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Companies that operate in regulated industries or have state and local government contracts may be subject to “pay-to-play” rules when making political contributions. Pay-to-play (PTP) laws exist at the federal, state, local, and agency levels, and are designed to prevent corruption or undue influence in politics, particularly when it comes to political contributions. PTP laws may apply to political contributions made by executives, employees, and in some cases, their family members. PASS offers comprehensive PTP compliance services for our clients. We leverage in-house and external resources to identify potential PTP issues a political contribution may trigger, and we help...

Why Does PASS have a Team Dedicated to Receipts Processing?

Mar 19, 2025 Yvette Grays

Client Services Receipts Uncategorized

At PASS, we understand the importance of personalized support when it comes to PAC administration and compliance. That's why our clients work closely with a dedicated Compliance Manager (CM) for day-to-day guidance. What’s even better? Each Compliance Manager is backed by a specialized member of our Receipts Analysis team, ensuring top-notch support every step of the way. Our team of receipts professionals are dedicated to processing PAC receipts and making sure all PAC contributions comply with federal and state campaign finance laws. Additionally, the team makes sure all the funds that should have been deposited in the PAC...

Inflation Erodes PAC Contributions

Feb 20, 2025 Mindy Anderson

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State Fundraising

Campaign contribution limits are restrictions set by regulatory bodies that dictate the maximum amount of money individuals or organizations can donate to political campaigns. These limits are designed to prevent corruption, ensure fair competition, and promote transparency in the electoral process. As the cost of living and operating expenses rise due to inflation, the value of a fixed contribution limit has been diminished. This creates a challenge for candidates to raise the necessary funds to run competitive campaigns and effectively communicate their message to voters. To address this issue, regulatory bodies should periodically review and adjust contribution...

Search Your PAC Data with Ease and Accuracy

Jan 21, 2025 Mark Zen

Client Services Security Websites

PASS utilizes SQL Server to power our epacInfo® software. The SQL Full-Text Index is unlike traditional SQL queries, which match exact phrases or keywords. Full-Text Index enables users to perform more complex searches, including fuzzy searches, stemming, out-of-order words search, and wildcard search. This capability proves invaluable for applications requiring advanced search functionality, such as PAC Disbursement maps and our PAC Match Charity Search tool that allows user to search over a million charities with high efficiency and flexibility. Here are some tips and examples of how they can be applied: "Color" vs. "Colour": If a user searches...

My Company is Offering Charity Match! How Do I Choose a Charity?

Dec 19, 2024 Kim Park

Charity Match Client Services

Do you love animals, would you like to support organizations that help children, are you a veteran or a family member of a veteran, or do you want to help a local charity? With the Charity Match program, you can give to 501c3 organizations that are meaningful to you. There are a lot of popular national charities such as St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, American National Red Cross, and American Cancer Society. Looking to donate locally? If you have a favorite charity and it passes your company’s vetting process, then you can support them...

Starting a New PAC

Nov 27, 2024 Mindy Anderson

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

It seems like starting a new PAC will be helpful for your corporation. You will have the opportunity to help influence legislation that affects your industry. The Government Affairs team agrees it’s a brilliant idea! Some things to consider and questions to ask before starting a PAC: How will you fund the PAC? The solicitable class of a corporation includes executive and administrative personnel, stockholders and family members of those groups. Is our solicitable class likely to participate? What is our plan for asking them to give? What is your plan for the PAC? Is our industry heavily regulated...

Is Your PAC Data Accurate, Up-to-Date, and Secure?

Oct 18, 2024 Janice Preston

Compliance – Federal Compliance – State Receipts Security

The old axiom, “garbage in, garbage out,” which became popular in the early days of computing, still holds true today. Especially with data related to your Political Action Committee (PAC). PASS’ primary responsibility is ensuring that quality PAC data is imported to keep your PAC information accurate, up to date, and safe. PASS uses client data to prepare and file federal and state election law reports. We apply a quality assurance approach to ensure that data is transferred and processed accurately the first time around. Quality Assurance relies on a client’s IT department along with PASS’ Receipt Analyst...

So, You Want to Make Independent Expenditures?

Sep 19, 2024 Rich Sylvester

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Independent expenditures tend to be a seasonal thing, with that season being the few months leading up to the election. As such, there is often a lack of order, especially when TV, radio or digital ads can be reactionary to a recent debate or new poll numbers. Everything is moving mind numbingly fast for everyone including: canvassers, political directors, advertisement vendors, and compliance vendors. This can sometimes lead to late or even missed 24/48-hour reports with the FEC or state agencies. Based on my 25+ years of experience, I want to share some important points, which I believe can lead to...

What is Charity Match and Why Does Your Company Need It?

Aug 26, 2024 Stephanie Landon

Charity Match Client Services

A charity match is a donation made from Treasury or Foundation dollars to match time or money donated by an employee. There are many variations of these programs, and they are not only an employee incentive, but they can help advance your company’s ESG efforts. The most common program types include: Gift Match A Gift Matching program is the most popular match program. Matching an employee’s gift is a popular employee benefit that has been proven to attract applicants as well as reduce employee turnover. With over a million 501(c)(3) organizations, you can structure your program to...

A PASS Compliance Manager’s Top 3 Most Helpful Disbursement and Receipt Reports in epacInfo® Software

Jul 18, 2024 Kyle Folsom

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

When logging onto PASS’ epacInfo® software, there are many different features that help our clients more effectively and efficiently manage their PACs. One of the best features clients can utilize are the Disbursement (DM) and Receipt Management (RM) Reports. These reports show the money going in and out of your PAC. Let’s take a look at my top 3 most helpful reports: Candidate/Committee History DM007 – This report allows the user to search for how much your PAC has given to a particular committee or candidate (federal and non-federal). PAC Directors I work with are constantly being asking how much...

PAC Website Development Challenges and Solutions

Jun 24, 2024 Ami Chokshi

Client Services Websites

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, web development is pivotal in shaping a PAC’s online presence and success. However, technologies and user expectations are constantly evolving, and the Web Developers at PASS cannot afford to ignore this evolution as they strive to provide high quality, reliable solutions for PAC websites. User experience Great user experience is very important for a successful PAC website. PASS developers create user-centric PAC website templates and offer alternative designs to ensure the design is the best fit for clients. Browser compatibility Browser and platform compatibility are typically one of the biggest web application development issues. From...

Should My PAC Have Bylaws?

May 16, 2024 Steve Hinton

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Whether you are looking at starting a new political action committee (PAC) or have an established PAC, bylaws are a best practice for PACs of all ages, shapes, and sizes. The PAC’s external activity, in the form of receiving contributions from individuals, making contributions to political committees, and reporting all PAC activity, is already heavily regulated. PAC bylaws establish the internal procedures and policies that will govern how the PAC functions. Bylaws can serve as an opportunity to formalize the PAC’s fundraising and decision-making processes by addressing topics such as: Does the PAC have a board to determine who can...

Time To Update Your FEC Registration?

Apr 15, 2024 Gerrie Gray-Benedi

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Your FEC Statement of Organization, also known as FEC Form 1, is a document that must accurately represent your PAC at all times. Oftentimes changes within the connected organization result in the PAC needing to update the FEC Form 1. As soon as you learn changes are occurring, the FEC requires you to file an amended Form 1 within 10 days of the changes taking place. Why would I need to update my FEC Form 1, you ask? The most common reason we see at PASS is the appointment of a new PAC Treasurer. A PAC Treasurer is the one...

PAC Budgeting

Mar 18, 2024 Amy Reynolds

Client Services Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

Have you ever gotten close to election day and found out you don’t have enough money in the bank to make any pre-election disbursements? Or have you found yourself with a surplus of cash following an election? Either way, planning your spending at the start of a new year or new election cycle will help avoid cash-flow issues and reporting mistakes. The best way to map out contributions is to create a PAC budget and identify intended recipients and contribution amounts. Your Board or Approval Team can “pre-approve” the proposed recipients in the budget list, and PASS can provide you...

PAC Disbursement Planning and Scheduling

Feb 9, 2024 Amy Reynolds

Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

You have no doubt heard the old adage that in comedy timing is everything. Well, the same could be said of making political contributions. If you finished out 2023 scrambling to make last minute, year-end contributions before December 31, you may be looking for less hectic ways to plan your political giving. With 40 years of disbursement planning under our belts, we have a few ideas to help you create a giving plan for the new year. At a minimum, your PAC should have contribution criteria that outlines which candidates/committees are eligible to receive a PAC contribution. A good rule...

Happy 40th Birthday PASS!

Jan 18, 2024 Mary O’Reilly

Client Services

PASS is 40 years old and we are working harder and smarter than ever to keep PACs around the country compliant with Federal and State campaign finance laws. Last year alone our team of PAC experts prepared and filed over 2,300 compliance reports. They also provided a compliance review, prepared, and sent 21,225 disbursement checks to candidates and committees. Our team of Charity Match professionals, who administer charity match programs, prepared and sent out 34,000 checks to charities in 2023! Each charity check is prepared and sent with a personalized cover letter. PAC members lucky enough to have a charity...

Your Company Approved Your Idea For A PAC Match Program! Now What?

Jan 2, 2024 Carlyn Woodward

Charity Match

Getting approval to start a PAC Match program is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. You reached out to your PAC peers and consulted with your in-house team to figure out the best practices for structuring your program, and find you still need that one resource to provide the big picture, expertise, and industry best practices. The Charity Match team at PASS has a broad scale knowledge of industry best practices built on our 15+ years of providing PAC match services. The Team created a PAC match starter kit to assist PAC managers with starting new programs. The PAC...

Interested In Creating or Updating A PAC Website, But Don’t Know Where To Start?

Nov 15, 2023

Websites

Whether you are a brand-new PAC and just getting started or have had years of PAC experience, creating or updating your PAC website can seem like a daunting task. There are many factors that need to be considered when developing a PAC website, but when you work with PASS, we help you step-by-step along the way! One of the many questions I get when starting the website development process with a client is, “Do you have any sample content we can see?”. Being able to see an example of what your website could look like can really help you as...

Single Sign On With A Dash Of Multi-Factor

Oct 27, 2023 Keith Andrews

Security Uncategorized Websites

Single sign on (SSO) is a secure and efficient way to authenticate to your PASS applications without having to recall that pesky password or security questions when changing your password. SSO has been a website staple for quite some time and you have likely used it in one place or another, even if you didn’t know it. SSO is all handled through your network management group and allows for you to login to your workstation each morning and have access to all of the applications under your SSO umbrella. PASS website users have experienced SSO when clicking the link to a...

PASS – An ESOP Company – What Does That Mean?

Sep 5, 2023 Vincent Tallman

Client Services

A common question that I get asked by my friends, neighbors, and extended family is, "What do you do?" or "Who do you work for"? I am sure that you receive similar questions as well. My initial answer is to try and explain what we do. That can be challenging as many people are unfamiliar with political action committees and the laws regulating their activity. After a successful or not-so-successful explanation, I usually say that our job is to ensure our clients don't get in trouble when they make contributions to candidates running for office by filing campaign finance reports...

Best Practices To Combat PAC Check Fraud

Aug 15, 2023 Mary O’Reilly

Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

PACs are under attack and not just attacks in the media by anti-PAC factions. These attacks are from criminals stealing money from PAC accounts by duplicating PAC disbursement checks. While it is unclear how the perpetrators are getting the PAC checks, the results are clear. Criminals obtain a legitimate PAC check and use the account name and address along with the banking information to create fraudulent checks. The fraudulent checks look exactly like your PAC check with the routing and account information and even your PAC’s check signature. Criminals change the amounts and distribute the checks to unsuspecting individuals as...

PAC Laws Are Changing In The States. What Can You Expect In 2023?

Jul 7, 2023 Stephanie Neill

Compliance – Federal Compliance – State

As state legislatures start to adjourn from their sessions, this time of year usually brings to light campaign finance legislation that was passed and signed into law. This summer is no exception! Many states raised their campaign contribution limits this year. Most of these increases were based on the rising cost of living as some states include indexing contribution limits for inflation in their campaign finance statutes. However, in some states like New York, the contribution limits were lowered slightly. Several states enacted legislation this year that changes their existing campaign finance reporting rules. For instance, Virginia previously required state...

Using Your Federal PAC for Non-Federal Disbursements

May 30, 2023 Josh Beardsley

Compliance – State

Your PAC Board wants to give to non-federal Candidates and PACs, but where do you start? Many states and local governments require PACs to register and file reports with the state to make contributions to non-federal campaigns. With so many different regulations to understand and follow, getting set up for non-federal giving can seem a bit overwhelming. However, there are many jurisdictions where you can contribute from your Federal PAC without too much extra work and time. Every state has their own way of regulating political contributions and many require extensive registration and reporting requirements such as California, Washington, Massachusetts,...

How PASS Keeps Sensitive Data Safe

May 12, 2023 Amelia Dimitriev

Security

Working with personal data is like having your cake and eating it too. It is imperative for organizations to use personal data but, at the same time, they need to be mindful of how that data is stored, shared, and used. In this digital age, privacy is a hot topic and for good reason, considering that the last ten years have been littered with thefts of sensitive information and data breaches that have affected companies and organizations of all shapes, sizes, and sectors. PASS clients trust us with their sensitive information so concerns about how this data is being...

Launching a PAC Match Program? Here are 3 Tips to Make Sure Your Program Runs Smoothly.

Apr 10, 2023 Jenna Visconte

Charity Match

You’ve decided to take your PAC to the next level and start a PAC Match Program. PAC Match is a great tool to increase PAC participation and contribution amounts. When you offer a charitable match to your PAC Members’ favorite charities, members are more loyal, contribute more, and spread the word! With this increase in participation comes an increase in administrative time. Wise PAC Mangers take advantage of an outside vendor to handle Charity Match administration because tracking charity selections and writing hundreds, or thousands, of checks is tedious and time-consuming. As a Senior Charity Match Manager, one of...

4 Keys to PAC Fundraising Success

Mar 17, 2023 Mary O’Reilly

Fundraising

Raising money for a Political Action Committee (PAC) is never easy, but there are 4-key pieces to any effective campaign. 1. PAC Website – A branded PAC website is essential to any fundraising campaign. With a workforce that is spread out and not always on-site, you need a way to reach them and deliver your message. Websites can also be tailored to offer giving guidelines based on the role the individual visiting the site holds in the company. 2. Communication – A PAC Campaign should not be the only time you talk to your employees. Frequent and effective...

Don't Let The Fear Of Changing Vendors Stop You From Taking Your PAC To The Next Level

Feb 15, 2023

Client Services

As part of my role as Director of Business Development here at PASS I am responsible for meeting with prospective clients to walk them through our PAC outsourcing solutions. One concern that always comes up during those conversations is the process of transitioning from one campaign finance compliance vendor to another. I know this can seem like a daunting task, but with a little planning and preparation and PASS’ custom transition process, it doesn't have to be. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure a smooth transition once you’ve decided to make the switch to...

3 PAC Website Features You Don't Want to Miss

Jan 24, 2023

Websites

Choosing what to display on your PAC website can be a daunting task! Of course you want the site to be user friendly, and you want the enrollment process to be straightforward, but what about site content? One of the questions we are asked frequently during the website development process is "What do your other clients do?" Here are the top 3 website features you don't want to miss! A question most PAC donors have is, where is my money going? I always recommend adding a disbursement map to your PAC website. Our disbursement map breaks down all disbursements...