PACs, Super PACs, and Party Committees: A Fundraiser's Field Guide

Who Is on the Field

• Candidate committees take limited contributions for one candidate.
• Traditional PACs (including separate segregated funds) raise hard money under federal caps and may give to candidates within those caps.
• Super PACs (independent expenditure only committees) may take unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations, unions, and others. They do not give directly to candidates; they spend on their own.
• Party committees (national, state, local) follow their own limit tables for receipts and transfers.

Print the FEC charts and keep them at hand: FEC candidate and committee guides.

Limits: 2025 and 2026

For federal candidate committees, an individual may give $3,500 per election in the 2025 2026 cycle (primary and general count as separate elections). Official table: FEC contribution limits for 2025 and 2026.

Party and PAC lines use different buckets (calendar year versus per election, depending on who receives the check). Read the row that matches the actual recipient.

Super PACs and Coordination

Super PAC spending cannot be coordinated with candidates or parties where the law forbids it. Bring compliance counsel into planning whenever vendors, content, or events are shared.

What Fundraisers Actually Control

Disclosure. Know the committee ID money is entering and how the donor line will read on the report.

Clean data. Employer, occupation, and address rules tighten as totals rise, often past the $200 itemization line on federal forms.

Joint events. If more than one committee is named, allocate proceeds under FEC rules up front. "We will true it up later" creates report pain.

Read Next

Go deeper with FEC compliance and where committees usually slip.

Tools That Match Hard Money Reality

FundraiserMax campaign finance keeps limits visible, captures the fields filers expect, and follows how treasurers work so you spend less time guessing which election a donor already maxed.