Major Donors

CAOC works to keep you informed on California Major Donor Reporting to help keep major donors compliant. A major donor is anyone who makes political contributions totaling $10,000 or more to California state or local candidates, their controlled committees, ballot measures, other political committees or political parties within a calendar year. As soon as you hit the $10,000 contribution threshold within a calendar year, you are considered a California Major Donor and are subject to reporting your donations.

Overview:

• The Fair Political Practices Commission offers a in-depth guide on major donor reporting; a copy is linked here.
• CAOC DOES NOT FILE THESE REPORTS FOR YOU - YOU MUST FILE ALL OF YOUR OWN MAJOR DONOR REPORTS (Form 461, and supplemental forms dependent on election involvement). Linked here is a copy of Form 461.
• If you contributed $25,000 or more during the calendar year, you will also be required to file online.  Here is the form you'll need to receive an electronic filing ID.

2026 Major Donor Reporting Deadlines 

The 2026 Major Donor Filing Schedule provided by the FPPC details important 2026 semi-annual report deadlines and supplemental election form deadlines.

Change to 24 Hour Major Donor Reporting

A major donor who contributes $1,000 or more to a candidate or ballot measure within 90 days of the candidate or measure appearing on the ballot is also required to report the contribution within 24 hours using Form 497 (including on election day).  This report is also required for a contribution of $1,000 or more to a political party committee within 90 days of any state election (including on election day). Linked here is a copy of Form 497.

Rules Regarding Individual v. Business Contributions

Contributions made by a business entity and by its majority owner (more than 50 percent) will be aggregated. For officers, employees, and individual shareholders with 50 percent or less ownership interest in the business entity, the contributions will not aggregate unless the individual has the authority to make contributions on behalf of the entity and does in fact exercise such authority. For two business entities, the general rule is that the contributions from the two entities are aggregated if the same person or a majority of the same persons in fact directs and controls the decisions of both entities to make political contributions or expenditures.

Best Practices:

• Always defer to your records for contributions made. 
• Clearly notate whether the funds are personal, made from a business account, or will be reimbursed by a business account.
• Put upcoming reporting deadlines onto your calendar.
• Have the person responsible for reporting become familiar with reporting well before the deadline approaches. 
• Keep track of all political contributions on a spreadsheet or in one folder. 

The information you'll need for reporting is:

• The committee name, FPPC ID number and address for the candidate or committee you're making the donation to
• The date you made the contribution
• How much you contributed

This information is easily found on the remittance form you used to make the donation, or you may contact CAOC who maintains these records for sponsored candidates and committees.

Additional Resources

• For questions regarding sponsored candidates and committees, you may also contact Political Director Lea-Ann Tratten at ltratten@caoc.org.
• If you would like to discuss your contributions with CAOC staff, or have any general questions, please contact Deputy Political Director Samantha Helton at samantha@caoc.org.
• Secretary of State Filing Resources link: Campaign Filing Requirements : California Secretary of State

Contributions made by a business entity and by its majority owner (more than 50 percent) will be aggregated. For officers, employees, and individual shareholders with 50 percent or less ownership interest in the business entity, the contributions will not aggregate unless the individual has the authority to make contributions on behalf of the entity and does in fact exercise such authority. For two business entities, the general rule is that, if the same person or a majority of the same persons in fact controls and directs the decisions of both entities to make political contributions or expenditures, the contributions from the two entities are aggregated.

Special Odd Year Quarterly Report: During odd-numbered years (e.g. 2025), major donors are required to file reports for the 1st and 3rd calendar quarters if (1) they have contributed a total of $10,000 or more to state or local candidates or committees since January 1 and (2) they have contributed a total of $10,000 or more during the calendar quarter to elected state officers, their controlled committees, or committees primarily formed to support or oppose any elected state officer. These reports must be filed no later than April 30 for the period January 1 through March 31 and no later than October 31 for the period July 1 through September 30.

CAOC WILL NOT FILE THIS REPORT FOR YOU – YOU MUST FILE YOUR OWN MAJOR DONOR REPORTS (Form 461).

In prior years, CAOC provided contributors with a list of contributions to CAOC sponsored committees made during the reporting period. However, because CAOC does not retain records of contributions to candidates or committees other than CAOC sponsored committees, the lists were often incomplete. We discovered that providing a partial list caused more confusion than clarity. Therefore, we decided to discontinue providing you with lists of contributions to CAOC sponsored committees unless you request that we provide you with such a list. If you would like to discuss your contributions with CAOC staff or request a list of contributions, please contact Samantha Farmer, Director of Political Development at samantha@caoc.org or Lea-Ann Tratten, our Political Director at ltratten@caoc.org.

Please note the threshold for electronic filing was lowered from $50,000 to $25,000. Any state filer who makes contributions totaling $25,000 or more in a calendar year must file all reports electronically in addition to filing paper reports. For electronic filing information, please go to: www.sos.ca.gov . Again, please be aware that CAOC WILL NOT COMPLETE THIS ELECTRONIC FILING FOR YOU – YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAJOR DONOR FILING.