A candidate decides to raise money on a crowdfunding website to spend on their campaign for election to the local council. The election will take place on 1 May. For this candidate, the regulated period begins on 25 March.
The candidate creates a crowdfunding page with a deadline of 24 April.
The candidate chooses a crowdfunding platform that collects enough information from donors to ensure they can complete their recording and reporting obligations, and allows donations to be returned if they are impermissible.
The candidate includes the following information on their crowdfunding page:
who the money is going to and what it will be used for – “I am raising money for my campaign to be elected as a Grey Party representative to Hartsworth Council”
advice that permissibility checks will be undertaken for donations made over £50
advice that if a donor cannot be verified, or is an impermissible source, their donation will be returned
advice that details of donations may be reported to Returning Officers as part of the candidate’s return, and may in turn be made available to the public by the Returning Officer
a valid imprint
By the deadline, the candidate has raised £850. The funds, minus the platform’s fees, are transferred to the candidate five working days later. The donations include:
Donation A: £250 made on 10 April, donor name and home address received
Donation B: £100 made on 12 April, donor name and home address received
Donation C: private donation of £75 made on 14 April, donor name and email address received
Several contributions under £50 made over the crowdfunding period
The candidate receives the funds on 1 May and downloads information on the donors from the crowdfunding platform. Their 30-day window for permissibility checks starts on 1 May, because this is the date of receipt.
Donation A is accepted after permissibility checks are carried out.
The candidate carries out permissibility checks on Donation B and finds out that the donation was from an impermissible source. The candidate returns the donation to the donor through the crowdfunding platform.
The candidate receives only the name and email address of the donor for Donation C. This information is not enough to check permissibility. The candidate contacts the donor to request their home address, but doesn’t receive a response. The candidate must reject the donation and return it to the donor.
The candidate does not need to check the contributions under £50.
When the candidate completes their return, they record the donations over £50 which they accepted, and those which were returned. Contributions of £50 or under are not recorded. The candidate records the fees charged by the platform under the accommodation and administrative costs category in their spending return.