For Political Impact, Give Political Dollars: Why PAC Donations Mean More in 2024

Adapted from Bat Signal 2: The Biggest Investment Ever

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As we shared in our September 2023 Bat Signal memo, Americans donate $500 billion per year to charity. Only a fraction of that 501(c)3 giving goes to local voter engagement groups. 

And, even that fraction far outweighs the 501(c)4 dollars — which can be used roughly 40% for political purposes like having explicit conversations with voters about the candidates and political parties — and PAC dollars, which can be used for 100% political purposes by local voter organizations that have C4s and PACs.

C3 and C4 giving is absolutely impactful. PAC giving is just far more impactful on electoral outcomes.

MVP’s Senior State Strategy Advisor, Hallie Montoya Tansey, explains it like this: 

“In the game of Taboo, players try to get their partners to guess the word on their card — without using the word itself.

Trying to get someone to vote with C3 [and a majority of C4] money is like trying to communicate without being able to use the most obvious and important words to motivate action. PAC money allows us to tell them exactly what we hope they will do, and why.”

Simply put: With C3 and a majority of C4 money, organizers can talk about “saving democracy.” With PAC money, they can talk about “defeating Trump and MAGA Republicans” — up and down the ballot.

If we took even a small slice of overall 501(c)3 charitable giving and shifted it to hard-hitting PAC giving, many more organizers could tell voters exactly who to vote for and why.

Explore MVP’s donation options here.