Host guide

How to host a fundraising event

Thank you for hosting a fundraising event with Swing Left! Fundraising is one of the most important things you can do to help Democrats win up and down the ballot, and hosting an event to raise money can be a great way to inspire more people to give. This guide has everything you need to plan, promote, and execute a successful event!

Note: Hosting a fundraising event also involves navigating guidelines from the Federal Election Commission and state election agencies, so we’ll share some important information to keep in mind throughout this guide.

If you get stuck at any point, please email our team at [email protected] for support.


Getting started

Before you begin: Choose which fund or candidate you want to raise money for, and create a personal fundraising page through Swing Left’s website.

  • Consider putting a team together! Establishing a host committee can help you reach your fundraising goals, share the burden of event planning, and get the word out to a much wider audience.
  • Determine the date, time, and type of event you’ll host.
    • Gather in person:
      • Where will you host the event – at your home, or a local venue?
      • Depending on the time of day, will you serve food and drink?
      • What are the supplies you need to make the event a success? For example, tables, nametags, signage, etc.
      • Is any specific programming, entertainment, or decor needed?
      • Will you need to recruit additional event volunteers, to help with setup, check-in, taking photos, and other roles?
    • Host a virtual event with guests from around the country:
      • What programming will make your virtual event the most engaging? Consider your audience, and if they’d enjoy a guest speaker, a trivia game, a theme, etc.
  • Important notes:
    • Paying for goods and services (or having them donated) is where things get tricky with navigating Federal Election Commission guidance. Be sure to review the “Expenses and reporting” section below very carefully.
    • Unfortunately, raising money through auctions and raffles creates significant legal challenges for you. We recommend finding different ways to engage your audience. If you have specific questions about auctions and raffles, please email us at [email protected].


Promoting your event

  • Post your event: When you’ve got the details nailed down, post your event on Mobilize. This way, you can collect RSVPs and communicate with registrants all in one place. If you’re part of Swing Left’s college program, use this link to post on Mobilize instead.
    • You can customize the language to reflect any specifics you want to share (e.g. if there’s a minimum donation amount to attend).
    • You’ll have the opportunity to mark the event as “private” and set a capacity limit, if you’d prefer not to list your event publicly.
    • Go back to your personal fundraising page, and use the “edit” feature to add your Mobilize event to your page.
  • Promote your event:
    • Email is the most straightforward promotional tool. Send a personalized email to folks in your network, and make sure that everyone on the host committee does the same. Consider encouraging your email recipients to forward the invitation to their networks.
    • Post on social media. You can spread the word on your feed to folks you might not have an email address for, and your posts can be easily shared by others. You can also create a Facebook event if you’d like; remember that someone who clicks “attending” on your Facebook event would still need to register on Mobilize and contribute through your fundraising page.
    • As you’re creating images to promote your event, you can use Swing Left’s brand guidance and logos, and/or take advantage of free user-friendly graphic design tools like Canva that can help you make designs that are the perfect dimensions for social media platforms.
    • Don’t be afraid to promote more than once. You don’t want to spam people, but as you nail down the details of the event, you can post multiple times. For example, messages that give new information like “New guest speaker announced! Help us welcome…” “Venue confirmed! Join us at…” and “We’re halfway to our goal!” can motivate more people to register and donate.
  • Raising money in advance: Don’t wait until your event to start raising money! As you’re circulating the event invitation, be sure to include your fundraising page link. You might even require a certain donation to attend the event.
    • Tip: If you’re requiring a certain dollar amount per person to attend, make sure that amount is a choice on your fundraising page. There are standard amounts that appear on your page ($5, $25, $50, etc.), which you can customize by clicking the “edit” button in the upper right. For example, if you’re asking people to donate $52 for your 52nd birthday, make sure that is an option for them.
    • You’ll be able to see who has donated, how much, and when by clicking on the “stats” tab in the upper right-hand corner of your fundraising page when you’re logged in.


At your event

  • Collecting donations
    • Even if guests have donated in advance, don’t let that stop you from collecting more donations at the event! Set up laptops or tablets at check-in where attendees can make additional donations.
      • Tip: If there’s a moment in the program where you’ll specifically be asking for more donations, make sure you’re prepared for a smooth experience. For example, if you have a guest speaker who will say “Everyone pull out your phones, and let’s see if we can meet this goal right now” be sure event volunteers are ready to make sure everyone can scan a QR code to the fundraising page link.
    • We strongly encourage you to ask all of your attendees to use your fundraising page online to make their donations.
      • Swing Left’s funds cannot accept checks. If you anticipate having guests who will need to donate by check, you’ll need to select individual candidate(s) and print out check contribution forms from their website for attendees to fill out themselves. You are welcome to provide stamps and envelopes to your guests who donate by check, but they should be the ones to fill out the form and seal the envelope. These donations will not be counted toward your fundraising progress on Swing Left’s website.
      • It is prohibited to accept contributions in the form of cash or other cash transfer applications (e.g. Venmo).

  • Create a buzz! Make it easy for guests to post about your fundraising event on social media.
    • Print out signage or table tents with the event hashtag, a link to your fundraising page, and the Swing Left handle (@SwingLeft on all platforms).
    • Ask event volunteers to encourage guests to take photos and videos at any opportunity they get! If there is an “Instagram-friendly” backdrop, have your volunteers point that out to guests.
    • Designate a volunteer as an event photographer. If you hire a photographer (or rent a photo booth!) remember that that counts as an in-kind contribution (if the vendor would like to donate these services, you should confirm that they can do so — as campaigns cannot accept contributions from businesses, even for goods and services!). See the “Expenses and reporting” section below for details.


After your event

You did it! Hosting a fundraising event is such an effective way to contribute to maintaining and expanding Democratic majorities across the country. Take a moment to feel proud of yourself.

  • Celebrate on social media! Post photos, how much you raised, special shoutouts, and anything else you want to share. Remember to tag @SwingLeft, and any other special guests and partners you worked with, to widen the reach of your post.
  • Thank your attendees: Send out a thank-you email to all of your supporters. Be sure to include some highlights from the event, and encourage them to post on social media as well.
  • If you’re a Swing Left group leader using Swing Left’s group builder tool: Any guests who registered for your event on Mobilize should automatically be added to your group if they weren’t already. Feel free to double-check this.

Expenses and reporting

As you’re figuring out your event expenses and how to pay for them, there are generally three things to be aware of: restrictions on who can give, how much someone can give, and what needs to be reported. Please note that the guidelines below are not meant to constitute legal advice. If you have any questions at all, please contact [email protected].

First things first. There are two ways people can give: money and stuff. Whether it’s $100 through your fundraising page (money), or $100 worth of food (stuff) – the dollar value counts as a donation. Donations of “stuff” are called “in-kind donations.”

Who can give

  • Any individual U.S. citizen or green card holder who is using their own money. That means they’re not borrowing money to donate or giving in someone else’s name.
  • People and entities that are not allowed to give should know who they are: unions, federal contractors, non-citizens/green card holders, and corporations. This includes local businesses that might want to donate.

Limits on giving

  • As individuals, people have limits on how much money and stuff of value they can contribute to each candidate.
    • Federal candidates: As of 2024, each person can contribute up to $3,300 – in money or stuff – to each candidate running in a federal race, per election. Remember, this $3,300 per person limit applies to money and “stuff.”
      • If you spend $300 on a venue rental for your fundraising event for a federal candidate, that $300 is an in-kind donation, and now you can only contribute $3,000 more to that candidate.
      • Similarly, if a professional decorator donates balloons for your event, and those balloons cost the decorator $200, that is an in-kind contribution. It counts toward the decorator’s own personal $3,300 limit (not yours). The decorator’s time would not count as an in-kind contribution if they are acting as a volunteer.
      • Remember: Corporations cannot donate – only sole proprietors and partnerships. An LLC’s ability to contribute is based on their tax status. LLCs taxed as corporations cannot, and LLCs taxed as single-member or partnership can contribute within their limit.
    • Multi-candidate funds: Many of Swing Left’s candidate funds are split among multiple candidates (or eventual nominees), where you have a $3,300 limit for each candidate within the fund. This makes it easier for you as the event host, because you’re less likely to come close to the limit per candidate.
      • For example, if you’re raising money for a Swing Left fund that supports 10 candidates, and you spend $300 on a venue, that $300 gets split 10 ways, so it only dips into each candidate’s $3,300 limit by $30 each (rather than $300).
      • For your guests: The breakdown is available to your donors on Act Blue so they can keep tabs for themselves on whether they’re nearing the limit for a single candidate.
    • State candidates: For individual state candidates, or multi-candidate funds for state-level races, the contribution limit will vary. Be sure to check your local guidelines.
    • Other funds: Some Swing Left funds may be for causes or organizations. In this case, you may not be subject to individual giving limits.

  • Allowances for event hosting expenses: As noted above, any money you spend on hosting the event – from renting a venue, ordering food, hiring an A/V company, etc. – counts as an in-kind contribution and goes toward your individual contribution limits to campaigns.
    • However, if you host the event in your home, you are allowed to spend up to $1,000 (per candidate, per election) on expenses for the cost of food, beverages, and invitations for fundraising events in your home, without it counting toward your individual contribution limit. This is known as an “in-home hospitality exemption.”
      • The $1000 allowance applies to each resident of the home who is on the lease or mortgage. So if you and a partner are both named, you now have $2000 per candidate, per election.
        • More than one candidate: The limit is per candidate, so if you’re raising money for a Swing Left fund that has 25 candidates at the time of the fundraiser, you now actually have a limit of $25,000 which is much easier to stay within!
        • You also qualify for the in-home hospitality exemption if you pay a nominal fee to rent a community room in your apartment complex, or other noncommercial spaces like a church. You would still count as the “in-home host” in that case.
      • Once you reach the $1000 exemption limit (per candidate, per election – and per in-home host), expenses for food, beverages, and invitations will be considered in-kind donations and start to count as in-kind contributions toward your individual contribution limit per candidate.
      • Remember: This exemption only applies to food, beverages, and invitations. If you spend money on other items (decor, table rentals, entertainment, etc.) that would also be considered in-kind donations and start to count as in-kind contributions toward your individual contribution limit per candidate.
    • Keeping costs low and staying under the limit:
      • Volunteers: If you can get away with it, skip the catering company and get help from volunteers to keep the event running.
      • Ask other members of your team to bring the “stuff” you need. For example, if you have a volunteer who wants to bring $500 worth of food as part of their contribution, the value goes toward their individual contribution cap, and isn’t covered in your $1000 hosting exception (assuming you do not reimburse them).
      • Important: When you’re negotiating prices with vendors (venues, caterers, photographers, etc.), you cannot accept discounts and special rates created just for you. Businesses must charge you what they’d usually charge for the goods and services. There might be an existing discount in place, which you can accept if it already applies to you (e.g. the venue rental is $200 but there’s a special $100 rate for folks who live in your neighborhood). But no matter how much a vendor supports your cause, be sure you’re not accepting a special rate!
        • There is one exception to this: vendors can give you food and beverages at a discount, so long as they’re not charging you less than their wholesale costs, and the value of the discount is no more than $1000 per candidate, per election.

Reporting

So now we understand who can give, and how much they can give. But how is that all tracked and reported?

  • Money: All of the money that you and your guests donate to the candidate or candidate fund should be processed through your personal fundraising page, which goes through Act Blue. You don’t need to worry about any additional reporting for monetary donations.
  • Goods and services: Any time you donate “stuff,” you’re required to report that to the relevant campaigns. Instead of chasing down contacts from multiple campaigns, Swing Left is happy to process these for you. Simply fill out our in-kind contribution form within 10 days of paying for the goods or services, and we’ll take care of the rest. Note: If you receive the in-kind donation of goods or services within two weeks of Election day, please submit the form the same day you receive the donation.
    • Things you pay for: If you pay for goods or services—any expenses that are not covered by the in-home hospitality exemption—please fill out this in-kind contribution form. Remember, that monetary value will count toward your limit for a given candidate, which you are responsible for not exceeding.
    • Things your attendees pay for: If you have co-hosts and they pay for goods and services to help host the event, they’d fill out the in-kind form for their expenses; the amount they spend will count toward their individual contribution limit instead of yours.
    • Things vendors donate: If a vendor donates the goods or services, it’ll count toward their own individual limit. Please ask the vendor to fill out the form instead. They should log what they normally charge for the goods or services, and not include a special discount (unless it is a food vendor that is charging you the wholesale cost, as described above).
      • Remember: Corporations cannot donate – only sole proprietors and partnerships. An LLC’s ability to contribute is based on their tax status. LLCs taxed as corporations cannot, and LLCs taxed as single-member or partnership can contribute within their limit.


If you have questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at [email protected]. We would be happy to answer your questions by email, or schedule a meeting to go over anything you need assistance with.

The information provided in this guide does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available in this document are for general informational purposes only. Information in this guide may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. Readers of this guide should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. No reader, user, or browser of this guide should act or refrain from acting on the basis of information on this site without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney can provide assurances that the information contained herein—and your interpretation of it—is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation.