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View Full Version : Is this fundraising idea illegal? (Perhaps some lawyers supporting Ron roam around?)



AlexAmore
06-11-2007, 03:53 PM
Put money into 100 red, white, and blue helium-filled balloons and sell them for $10 each. Denominations: One balloon contains $100, two-$50.00, two-$20, two-$10, two-$5.00 and the rest $2.00. Sell all 100 and make a total of $548.00.

Does anyone know if this is illegal or not? Otherwise i'm just gonna call up the state tomorrow. I think it would be fun and the balloons would look great and be a real eye catcher.

I would of course donate all the profits to Ron Paul.:D
DjLoTi
06-11-2007, 03:57 PM
lol but then you only have a 1/20 chance of making any money :P
AlexAmore
06-11-2007, 03:59 PM
lol but then you only have a 1/20 chance of making any money :P

$10 isn't much especially if it's for a fundraiser. I would be handing out flyers and stuff about Ron Paul and talking to people. I would get his name out at very little cost and the balloons would attract a lot of attention. I was thinking this would be cool for July 4th.

As the balloons dwindled there would be a better chance too.
DjLoTi
06-11-2007, 04:05 PM
Well I don't see why it would be illegal. It's just like selling raffle tickets. :) If you had 100 people there, I would throw in 10 :)

You should make it $2 bills, too :)
nayjevin
06-11-2007, 04:52 PM
Sorry I don't know about the legality, but have forwarded this to a paralegal, just in case that will help.

Please report back, this is a great idea!
AlexAmore
06-11-2007, 04:59 PM
Sorry I don't know about the legality, but have forwarded this to a paralegal, just in case that will help.

Please report back, this is a great idea!

Thank you!
burnice
06-12-2007, 10:49 AM
Well I don't see why it would be illegal. It's just like selling raffle tickets. :) If you had 100 people there, I would throw in 10 :)

You should make it $2 bills, too :)

I'm said paralegal. I agree with this guy, but to really get specific about it you would have to check the laws of your state. That being said, I seriously doubt you would find laws prohibiting raffle-type activities - that stuff goes on all the time. My only concern might be that doing this in anticipation of giving the proceeds to the candidate of your choice may violate some sort of campaign donation law - but again I wouldn't know for sure without doing some research.

I say do it - and if anyone gives you a hassle, then maybe look further into it. :D
windex_777
06-12-2007, 11:45 AM
I am not a lawyer, but I do believe that the legality of this might be in question because of specific campaign finance laws. We had to cancel a fundraiser because there wasn't a way to specifically prove who had donated how much (I think).

So in general, I don't think it would be illegal, but I don't know what or how you would have to do it to make sure that the Paul campaign could actually accept the contributions.
burnice
06-12-2007, 11:50 AM
I am not a lawyer, but I do believe that the legality of this might be in question because of specific campaign finance laws. We had to cancel a fundraiser because there wasn't a way to specifically prove who had donated how much (I think).

So in general, I don't think it would be illegal, but I don't know what or how you would have to do it to make sure that the Paul campaign could actually accept the contributions.

Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking. Something about the donations having to come from the person submitting the donation, only.
X_805
06-12-2007, 01:02 PM
Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking. Something about the donations having to come from the person submitting the donation, only.

That's what's really weird about some things. No money is exactly your own. You get your money from your job, and you might just decide to give some of that money to a candidate. The balloons seem like the same thing. You make money, but decide you'll give part of your income to a candidate.

Laws against that seem completely illogical.
AlexAmore
06-12-2007, 01:26 PM
That's what's really weird about some things. No money is exactly your own. You get your money from your job, and you might just decide to give some of that money to a candidate. The balloons seem like the same thing. You make money, but decide you'll give part of your income to a candidate.

Laws against that seem completely illogical.

100% agree. So really it seems like they are going after an intangible object, intentions....your thought. We have a Thought Police going after this thoughtcrime. :mad: