The most important part of fundraising is making sure that you’re abiding by applicable campaign finance laws. Here we’ll provide a broad overview of North Carolina campaign finance laws. Nothing can replace the advice of an experienced lawyer or treasurer, so take this as it’s intended: a starting resource for further investigation, not the end-all of the intricacies of campaign finance.

1. Know who to ask for help. When in doubt, contact the people who do this for a living: your County and/or the North Carolina State Election Board. They will either know the answer or direct you to someone who does.

2. Research what laws apply to you. You are running as a candidate at the municipal (e.g. Town Council), county (e.g. County Planning Board), state (e.g. NC State House), or federal (e.g. US House) level. There are different rules at every level,  so be aware of them. This determines your main regulatory body throughout the campaign.

3. Find a good treasurer. Every candidate committee must have a treasurer, and it can be anyone but your spouse. The treasurer is responsible for maintaining your financial records and filing required reports with the Board of Elections. Your treasurer must be trained by a Board of Elections course within three months of his/her appointment and once every four years after that.

4. Know when you have to file forms. North Carolina has deadlines for filing forms for your candidacy as well as filing campaign finance reports throughout the year. (As a fun fact, the filing fee is 1% of the annual salary of the office for which you are running; for the State House or Senate, that’s $207.) Know these dates. Don’t be late.

(more…)