After my $2300

[ronpaulhawaii]

Can I give money to less fortunate members of my meet-up till all limits are reached?

Otherwise, I will buy ads.

And how about a nationally co-ordinated day where each meet-up buys as large and prominant an ad as they can afford in their local daily?

[Devil_rules_in_extremes]

Can I give money to less fortunate members of my meet-up till all limits are reached?

NO!

Its against the law. Don't do it.

[torchbearer]

you can do so if no one knows. ;)
pay them $2300 for some kind of service, and then they can donate the money.
If i was there i would do labor for you for the 2300 so i could give to ron paul.

[ronpaulhawaii]

Thanks guys...

To avoid any stain on Dr. Paul, I'll stick with placing ads.

KUTGW

m

2.75 hrs till I donate my $17.76

[austinphish]

the answer according to FEC laws is "no". in reality you can do whatever you want with your money. i am very familiar with FEC laws and alternative ways to support RP, so don't hold back on your monetary suppport.

Gracias

[literatim]

You could always look into starting a corporation or a PAC.

[tron paul]

Don't obey illegal laws. Ask a jury to forgive you and get a good lawyer to point out that the 1st Amendment is not negotiable.

I going to give until I'm a political prisoner. The 2301st dollar = big media circus.

Think of the free publicity.

[beermotor]

You can buy materials for your local meetup ... signs, DVDs, fliers, whatever.

Do stuff like that. Rent out a Church and have a pot luck dinner/fundraiser.

[Avalon]

You can buy materials for your local meetup ... signs, DVDs, fliers, whatever.

Do stuff like that. Rent out a Church and have a pot luck dinner/fundraiser.

Exactly. Unless we're talking about a tens of thousands of dollars, you could make effective use of your money simply by funding a lot of meetup activities. Be careful placing ads for Ron Paul, there are rules you need to follow (like not using their material). But I doubt there's any rules restraining you from advertising your meetup (that prominently displays/pitches Ron Paul).

[duffster]

Why not contact the campaign and ask their advice. I'm sure they could give you the best legal way to financially support Ron Paul.

[dude58677]

It is soft money. You are NOT donating to Ron Paul and meetup groups are not part of the exploratory committee's.

[UCFGavin]

pay friends and folks for services (getting you a soda) and if they choose to donate the money...then great!

[fluoridatedbrainsoup]

Where there is a will, there is a way. :)

[Dustancostine]

pay friends and folks for services (getting you a soda) and if they choose to donate the money...then great!

But then they would have to claim the donation as taxable income.

BOOOOOOO BOOOOOO

[liberatenyc]

This is exactly why we need to discuss forming a website whose purpose it is to match donors with activists. See here:

http://ronpaul.meetup.com/50/messages/boards/view/viewthread?thread=3225654


you might also consider contributing to http://www.grannywarriors.com/

[wbbgjr]

I'm assuming if you buy Ron Paul wares from his store, then the proceeds go to the campaign? If you hit the maximum $2300, wouldn't it be legal to just buy a bunch of his t-shirts, or bumper stickers, or whatever and pass it out to supporters?

[Suzu]

The IRS allows you to give up to $10k to any person one time tax-free. What that person does with the money is no one's business.

[CurtisLow]

The IRS allows you to give up to $10k to any person one time tax-free. What that person does with the money is no one's business.

Is that once per year or lifetime?

[Suzu]

Is that once per year or lifetime?

I believe it's once a year but don't quote me on it.

The gift is tax-free to the recipient.

[Suzu]

http://www.thestreet.com/funds/investorforum/1230396.html

[maiki]

I'm assuming if you buy Ron Paul wares from his store, then the proceeds go to the campaign? If you hit the maximum $2300, wouldn't it be legal to just buy a bunch of his t-shirts, or bumper stickers, or whatever and pass it out to supporters?

The Ron Paul campaign is selling all those items at cost to avoid such eventuality.

[Avalon]

http://www.thestreet.com/funds/investorforum/1230396.html

That article is old. The gift tax exclusion limit is now $12k/person/year. You can have your spouse gift another $12k but if you do it jointly (or exceed these limits) you must file form 709 with your tax return. Anything above your individual limit eats into your lifetime exclusion.

More importantly, if you give this money to someone else you can't force them to donate it to Ron Paul...you could reimburse their donation of course, but this would be breaking FEC regulations. If you have the campaign verify it in some way, I'd assume they would be committing a major violation.

If anyone wants good, safe plans of how to best spend some money on Ron Paul's campaign, I'm sure we could come up with good advice, given the details.

[AZ Libertarian]

What to do with big bucks?

Buy billboard space everywhere that just says "Who is Ron Paul?" with a contact phone number, local address, and website URLs on it. All it takes is a few phone calls, and increases his name recognition factor BIG TIME.

[ronpaulhawaii]

Mahalo all for your thoughts/ideas/advice/etc.

FTR- I am just a single working schmo, with no debt load, who is putting _most_ of my "non-essential" budget items on the back burner till this is over. $4600 is nothing compared to what I could spend on wine, women, and song...

Please keep the ideas coming. I hope this will become an issue for most of us...

KUTGW

[ChrisM]

If you want to donate more, we need to start a PAC! I'm trying to push for this here because it's so important for those who want to give more directly to the campaign.

http://ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=4836

Also, billboards would work real nicely. I think that may be the most effective advertisement you could put up for Ron Paul.