Guidance for Candidates and Agents at Scottish Parliament elections

A donation is money, goods, property or services which are given:

• towards your candidate spending
• without charge or on non-commercial terms1

and have a value of over £502 . Anything with a value of £50 or less does not count as a donation.

The donation controls apply once you are officially a candidate.3

Unlike for spending, there is no long and short campaign for donations. The donation controls just apply once you are officially a candidate.

Some examples of donations include:

• a gift of money or other property
• payment of an invoice for candidate spending that would otherwise be paid by you
• a loan that is not on commercial terms
• sponsorship of an event or publication
• free or specially discounted use of property or facilities, for example the free use of an office