The RNC’s donor threshold has pushed lesser-known candidates to get creative with their fundraising pitches in order to land in front of a national audience alongside GOP frontrunners. “Campaigns generally have a tremendous amount of flexibility as far as how they spend their money,” Ghosh said.Ĭampaigns have long offered non-cash incentives, such as yard signs, books and other merchandise, in exchange for donations.
“It sounds like this candidate is using these individuals as straw donors to make it look like he has a bunch of campaign donors when in fact, he’s coaxing these contributions by reimbursing donors out there money that really, at the end of the day, is the candidate’s money,” Ryan said.Įven though Burgum’s campaign finance report would be expected to include the gift cards as expenses, it would not be clear which donors were “legitimate” and which were reimbursed via a gift card, Ryan noted.īut Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the Campaign Legal Center, said that the reimbursed offered to donors differed from the typical straw donor context, where the donor is used to conceal the original source of funds. Ryan, a longtime campaign finance and ethics lawyer, said the plan raised concerns that Burgum was effectively acting as a straw donor - a person who makes the contribution in the name of another, which is illegal. The scheme also raises some legal questions, and several campaign finance lawyers who spoke with POLITICO had different perspectives on its legality. “It also allows us to secure a spot on the debate stage while avoiding paying more advertising fees to social media platforms who have owners that are hostile to conservatives.” “Doug knows people are hurting because of Bidenflation and giving Biden Economic Relief Gift Cards is a way to help 50,000 people until Doug is elected President to fix this crazy economy for everyone,” spokesperson Lance Trover said. The total amount this may cost Burgum in his bid to reach 40,000 donors under the RNC’s rules to make the debate stage, along with hitting certain polling requirements and taking a loyalty pledge to support the party’s nominee, might not matter to him, since he has an estimated net worth of more than $1 billion and can also self-finance his campaign.īurgum’s team, which hasn’t yet disclosed how many donors he has, framed it as a bit of altruism rather than political opportunism. The scheme was first reported by FWIW, an email newsletter. His campaign said on Twitter that 50,000 people who donated would receive Visa or Mastercard gift cards at their mailing addresses. The Burgum campaign’s WinRed page indicated gift cards would be available for up to 50,000 donors - enough to make the August debate stage at a cost of $950,000 to the campaign if all donors only gave $1.
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