• Contribute $1,000, in aggregate, to all federal candidates during a calendar year. [example: $500 to a Congressional Candidate and $500 to Jim Webb.] These contributions are not aggregated with the State Party’s federal limits.
• Raise up to $5000 in contributions earmarked for federal expenditures. This means your committee can raise up to $5000 using Jim Webb or your Congressional candidate’s name in the fundraising email, letter or phone call. If you raise more than $5000 using the candidate’s names, you have to register with the FEC, so don’t do this.

• Committees can use the Internet to expressly advocate on behalf of Federal candidates.  This means you can send emails, post information on your Web site, and blog on behalf of Federal candidates.
• You can send emails and post information about Webb and your Congressional campaign’s volunteer activities on your web site.

• Spend up to $5000 on “Exempt Activity”.
• Exempt activity includes: purchasing yard signs, bumper stickers, lapel stickers, rally signs, posters, t-shirts, and buttons with the name of the Federal candidate on them.
• This is aggregate for all your federal candidates combined. [Example: you can spend $2500 on Kellam for Congress and $2500 on Webb for Senate. Or, any combination as long as you don’t spend more than $5000.]
• This is in addition to the $1000 you can give the campaign directly.

• Your committee can organize volunteer canvasses to go door-to-door to promote your Congressional candidate and Jim Webb.
• Canvassing can be coordinated with the campaigns.
• Your committee is permitted to hand out materials provided by and paid for by the Congressional candidates or by the Webb for Senate campaign.

• Your committee can hand out materials provided by the Webb campaign and your Congressional candidates at fairs and festivals around the state.
• Your committee can purchase a Democratic booth or table at the festival. You cannot purchase a Webb for Senate or Congressional Candidate booth or table. However, you can have their campaign materials at your booth.
• You can volunteer to work at booths paid for by Webb for Senate and by the Congressional campaigns

• It is preferable that you use materials provided by the campaigns in your activities! If you do you will be in complete compliance with the law. If you do not, you could be violating the law.
• You can reprint materials provided by the Webb for Senate campaign or by the Congressional campaigns. So, if the Webb campaign sends you a PDF of their flier, you can reprint it on your own paper and computers.
• The DPVA highly recommends that you use materials provided by the candidates.
• Under the $5000 exempt activities rule, your committee can produce some fliers / handouts using the name of the candidates.
• There are strict regulations on these fliers/handouts:
  • You CANNOT put any of these materials/fliers/handouts in the MAIL. These are materials to be handed out one-on-one only. [See the next section for explanation.]
  • The fliers must be produced and distributed by volunteers.
  • You CANNOT spend more than $5000 on your yard signs, bumper stickers, and these fliers combined.
  • Each flier/handout you create must contain a DISCLAIMER. You must have in 12 point font with a box around it a disclaimer that reads…

Authorized and Paid for by the [Insert committee name] County Democratic Committee

• Your committee can make expenditures for rent, overhead and other day-to-day party costs without triggering contributions, so long as the costs are not made on behalf of a clearly identified federal candidate and cannot be directly attributed to that candidate. Your committee can open a Democratic Party committee office. However, this office cannot simply be your Webb for Senate office. You have to do other legitimate Party business in this office as well.
• You CANNOT however pay to install multiple phone lines into this office to do phone banking for your Congressional candidate or Jim Webb. [See below for specifics on this.]

• You can participate in phone banks, rallies, etc. sponsored by the Federal candidates.
• You can volunteer at your candidates’ headquarters.
• You can write letters to the editor in support of your candidates’.

• If your committee produces and mails and newsletter that mentions a federal candidate, this also counts against the $5000 that you can spend on their campaign.
• These newsletters must be labeled and mailed by volunteers. You cannot use a commercial vendor to label and mail your newsletters.
• You must put the disclaimer on your newsletter.
• It is also good to check with the DPVA staff to make sure that your newsletter is in compliance with the law.

Authorized and Paid for by the [Insert committee name] County Democratic Committee

All of the above must be paid for with federally permissible funds.

Therefore, there must be enough contributions in your committee’s accounts from individuals or other federal committees at the time of the expenditure or contribution is made. What does this mean? This means, you cannot have a corporation or one individual donate $5000 to pay for your activities.

• Your committee cannot purchase any Public Advertising -- TV, radio, newspaper, or billboard that mentions the name of Jim Webb or your Congressional candidate
• You can purchase ads announcing the next meeting of your committee and announcing committee events as long as they do not include the names of any federal candidates.

Cannot Make “Public Communication” that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a federal candidate

• What is a Public Communication?
  Any communication by means of broadcast, cable, satellite, newspaper, magazine, billboards or other outdoor advertising, mass mailing (500 or more pieces) or telephone bank (500 or more substantially similar phone calls). These are phone calls and mailings in aggregate. So, you can’t do 499 calls in one day and then another 499 calls another day!
• The Internet is not considered a public communication. [You cannot, however, purchase Internet advertising on another Web site.]

• Your committee cannot send out mail mentioning the names of Jim Webb or your Congressional candidate
• If your committee wants to do a mailing, please contact the DPVA staff.

• Your committee members can volunteer at a phone banks organized by the Federal candidate.
• Federal candidates can pay for a phone line in your committee HQ to hold a volunteer phone banks. Your committees cannot pay for the lines.
  

Cannot pay for any Get Out The Vote activities even if it doesn’t mention the name of the federal candidate.

• Your committee cannot make phone calls or send generic mail that mentions the date and time of the election.
• Your committee cannot purchase radio ads or newspaper ads that mentions the day and time of the election even if you are not using the names of the Federal candidates