What's the Story with Exempt Sales Plans?

ElectaFile Short Summary: Exempt Sales Plans are a feature and not a bug for county party treasurers; they are a tool only available to one type of committee but they are helpful nonetheless…

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Today’s post is a bit of inside baseball for county party treasurers but we want everyone to read about it so they know what folks are talking about. Do the words “exempt sales plan” mean anything to you?

Exempt sales plans are tools for county party executive committees (referred to as “DECs” and “RECs” on the state board website…). NOTE: This does not include auxiliary or subordinate committees (think “Republican Optometrists of Rutherford County…” or “Democratic Retired Fighter Pilots of Macon County…”).

Here’s all you need to know about the history of exempt sales plans…from the beginning of time, treasurers must retain donor contact info and occupation records regardless of dollar amount. The only difference is a contribution less than $50 does not require reporting of the complete donor info. Note the distinction (or not…) between retaining and reporting. In the former situation you have to keep the information. In the latter you have to both keep the info and report it to the Board of Elections. Thus, the $50 threshold for reporting is indeed a convenience.

But, but, but…regardless of dollar amount, you still have get and keep the donor info. That can be challenging. But it was the only option until the Exempt Sales Plan tool came along.

Exempt Sales Plans allow County party treasurers to file in advance a Form CRO-2600 with the State Board of Elections Director (recall that all county party committees file with the State not the county board of elections…).

The form tells the State Director in advance what you’re selling, what it’ll cost, and how much you expect to raise. It also commits to a date range. One common item you see in Exempt Sales Plans is raffle tickets for some coveted, autographed item (Hacksaw Jim Duggan autographed caps for the ElectaFile Team…). Or the sale of party hats or shirts.

Here’s the State Board Manual’s Word on It:

First: Note the strictures: market price; $50 or less for each item; prior approval on a Form CRO-2600; and not more than $20K generated in toto per cycle…

Why Would You Do an Exempt Sales Plan? It’s simple. You might be able to raise a bunch of money selling Pamlico County Libertarian T-Shirts at the Aurora Phosphate Museum but without an exempt sales plan…unless you are generating a wash in revenue (sales price minus cost of t-shirts), you’ve got a contribution to report each time you sell a t-shirt.

If you use the exempt sales plan route, you make two filings. First, you’ve told the State Board what to expect in your CR-2600. Second, you file something called a CRO-1265 form to simply report the number of items you’ve sold and the amount raised. “We sold 50 shirts at $20 per shirt generating $1,000.00 for the McDowell County Lyndon LaRouche Party…”. The alternative would be to obtain and keep the details on each of those 50 shirt buyers. Not easy or convenient.

(Close readers and form enthusiasts will note that CRO-1265 includes a space to report whether or not you submitted CR-2600—so it’s a love and marriage situation—you can’t do one without the other…(free ElectaFile swag to anyone who comments or DMs us on Twitter with the television show theme song to which that is a reference…).

Now, county party treasurers are exceptional resources for a few reasons. First, they believe in what they’re doing. Second, many of them have been doing it a long time. One tip we’ve heard is…go ahead and file an exempt sales plan now for a prescribed time period in the future. Include as many different items that you plan to sell. That way, if you need to sell T-shirts in October, you’re not scrambling on September 30 waiting on approval.

If you’re a county party treasurer, familiarize yourself with Exempt Sales Plans. If you’re a subsidiary or auxiliary committee treasurer, don’t go for the head fake on Exempt Sales Plans—they are not for you!

If you’re a candidate committee treasurer or a PAC treasurer, exempt sales plans are not for you. But you’ll at least know it when you see it.

If you are a party EC treasurer, learn and love the helpful tool that the Exempt Sales Plan can be…

Drop us a line if you have questions on this!

See you Thursday!

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What is ElectaFile.com? ElectaFile offers easy and affordable electronic "click to file" services with the NC State Board and County Boards. ElectaFile is web-based and accessible from Macs and PCs with an internet connection. You only pay a small fee if you file using ElectaFile. If you need a free consultation on your situation, please let us know. If ElectaFile can help, it will. We are not your treasurer or your lawyer. If you need a professional treasurer or an attorney, ElectaFile regularly refers folks to professionals on all sides of the aisle.