[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 11, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2009]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 11CFR104.7]

[Page 114-115]
 
                       TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS
 
                 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
 
PART 104_REPORTS BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES AND OTHER PERSONS 
(2 U.S.C. 434)--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 104.7  Best efforts (2 U.S.C. 432(i)).

    (a) When the treasurer of a political committee shows that best 
efforts have been used to obtain, maintain and submit the information 
required by the Act for the political committee, any report of such 
committee shall be considered in compliance with the Act.
    (b) With regard to reporting the identification as defined at 11 CFR 
100.12 of each person whose contribution(s) to the political committee 
and its affiliated political committees aggregate in excess of $200 in a 
calendar year (or in an election cycle in the case of an authorized 
committee) (pursuant to 11 CFR 104.3(a)(4)), the treasurer and the 
political committee will only be deemed to have exercised best efforts 
to obtain, maintain and report the required information if:
    (1)(i) All written solicitations for contributions include a clear 
request for the contributor's full name, mailing address, occupation and 
name of employer, and include an accurate statement of Federal law 
regarding the collection and reporting of individual contributor 
identifications.
    (A) The following are examples of acceptable statements for 
unauthorized committees, but are not the only allowable statements: 
``Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report 
the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of 
individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year;'' and 
``To comply with Federal law, we must use best efforts to obtain, 
maintain, and submit the name, mailing address, occupation and name of 
employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 per calendar 
year.''
    (B) The following are examples of acceptable statements for 
authorized committees, but are not the only allowable statements: 
``Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report 
the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of 
individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle;'' and 
``To comply with Federal law, we

[[Page 115]]

must use best efforts to obtain, maintain, and submit the name, mailing 
address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose 
contributions exceed $200 per election cycle.''
    (ii) The request and statement shall appear in a clear and 
conspicuous manner on any response material included in a solicitation. 
The request and statement are not clear and conspicuous if they are in 
small type in comparison to the solicitation and response materials, or 
if the printing is difficult to read or if the placement is easily 
overlooked.
    (2) For each contribution received aggregating in excess of $200 per 
calendar year (or per election cycle, in the case of an authorized 
committee) which lacks required contributor information, such as the 
contributor's full name, mailing address, occupation or name of 
employer, the treasurer makes at least one effort after the receipt of 
the contribution to obtain the missing information. Such effort shall 
consist of either a written request sent to the contributor or an oral 
request to the contributor documented in writing. The written or oral 
request must be made no later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the 
contribution. The written or oral request shall not include material on 
any other subject or any additional solicitation, except that it may 
include language solely thanking the contributor for the contribution. 
The request must clearly ask for the missing information, and must 
include the statement set forth in paragraph (b)(1) of this section. 
Written requests must include this statement in a clear and conspicuous 
manner. If the request is written, it shall be accompanied by a pre-
addressed return post card or envelope for the response material;
    (3) The treasurer reports all contributor information not provided 
by the contributor, but in the political committee's possession, or in 
its connected organization's possession, regarding contributor 
identifications, including information in contributor records, 
fundraising records and previously filed reports, in the same two-year 
election cycle in accordance with 11 CFR 104.3; and
    (4)(i) If any of the contributor information is received after the 
contribution has been disclosed on a regularly scheduled report, the 
political committee shall either:
    (A) File with its next regularly scheduled report, an amended memo 
Schedule A listing all contributions for which contributor 
identifications have been received during the reporting period covered 
by the next regularly scheduled report together with the dates and 
amounts of the contribution(s) and an indication of the previous 
report(s) to which the memo Schedule A relates; or
    (B) File on or before its next regularly scheduled reporting date, 
amendments to the report(s) originally disclosing the contribution(s), 
which include the contributor identifications together with the dates 
and amounts of the contribution(s).
    (ii) Amendments must be filed for all reports that cover the two-
year election cycle in which the contribution was received and that 
disclose itemizable contributions from the same contributor. However, 
political committees are not required to file amendments to reports 
covering previous election cycles.

[45 FR 15108, Mar. 7, 1980, as amended at 58 FR 57729, Oct. 27, 1993; 62 
FR 23336, Apr. 30, 1997; 65 FR 42624, July 11, 2000]