APL 301 Campaign Finance and Fundraising

One of the most important areas in any electoral or issue campaign is finance and fundraising. In order to raise and spend the money needed to build and execute a successful campaign, campaign staff must learn the specific fundraising and financial management skills and develop a deep understanding of campaign fundraising and spending laws. This course provides students with a combination of fundraising and financial management skill building and the capacity to understand the legal landscape for raising and spending money in a successful campaign. Through a study of finance operations for current and past electoral and issue campaigns, students will develop an understanding of the types of fundraising operations, the diverse finance structures that campaigns create, and the financial and fundraising laws that govern those campaigns ¿ whether the campaign is an electoral committee, and 527 organization, a 501(c)3 or (c)4, or (c)5 or other campaign operation.