Although they are rarely viewed as nonprofit startups, political campaigns are technically nonprofit entities exempt from taxation under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. In a recent election cycle, Midas Kenkyuu helped a candidate establish and operate their campaign organization until full-time staff could be brought on.
Within one week of contacting us, the candidate had an official campaign infrastructure established. We undertook activities such as including drafting bylaws, filing with the IRS and Federal Election Commission, establishing bank accounts and financial policies, website creation, credit card donation integration, recruiting trustees, and documenting actions through resolutions and meeting minutes.
After full-time staff was brought on, Midas Kenkyuu still provided other consulting services throughout the election season. We tested internal controls and produced public financial filings that were scrutinized by federal regulators. We also drafted audit responses to the Federal Election Commission, leading to financial reporting with 100% accuracy.
Due to the start-up nature of this campaign, resources had to be prioritized on voter outreach. Midas Kenkyuu LLC also created cost-effective technology solutions that saved the campaign money. For example, the ballot access laws of the state required the campaign to gather thousands of signatures to be placed on the ballot. Comparable constituent management software solutions costed upwards of thousands of dollars per month. Instead, Midas Kenkyuu LLC, in a matter of days, set up a cloud-based relational database that connected with State’s data and allowed the campaign to verify petition signatures. As a result, the campaign was able to successfully access the ballot at a fraction of the quoted original cost.
