Qualifying as a multicandidate committee (SSF)

To qualify as a multicandidate committee, an SSF must have:

• Been registered with the FEC for at least six months;
• Received contributions from more than 50 persons; and
• Contributed to five or more federal candidates.

As to the third qualification, there is no minimum amount that must be contributed to each of the five candidates; the five qualifying contributions may be made over more than one election cycle.

An SSF that is affiliated with another SSF that has met these criteria also qualifies as a multicandidate committee and shares that committee’s $5,000 per-candidate limit.

The multicandidate contribution limits apply as soon as the committee meets the criteria for multicandidate status.

Disclosure of multicandidate committee status

Once a committee qualifies as a multicandidate committee, the treasurer must file Form 1M, “Notification of Multicandidate Status” within 10 days.

When making contributions to candidates, a multicandidate SSF must notify the recipient candidate or campaign committee in writing that it has qualified as a multicandidate committee. For convenience, the statement may be pre-printed on the committee’s checks, letterhead or other appropriate materials.

The treasurer must also indicate that the committee has qualified as a multicandidate committee on the Summary Page of each report filed.