The Kennedy Victory Fund raised $947,182 in large donations.
The LNC received $92,300 from the Kennedy Victory Fund for administrative expenses, $11,804 from the Mapstead and Ter Maat campaigns corresponding we believe to parts of the hotel bill, and $14,091 in other itemized donations. There were also $56,994.21 in unitemized donations. These total to $175,192. For the month, the normal part of the income from supporters therefore appears to be slightly above $71,000.
Two refunds totaled nearly $2000.
Total disbursements for the month, including the Kennedy Victory Fund recommendations, were $432,317.
Employees and their expenses came to $43,038, including: Employee Net Pay was $26,362. This was for three biweekly payments. Social Security was $4116. Health Insurance was $2501. Federal Withholding came to $2409. PayChex Flex charged us $2360 as the payroll fee. 401K cost $1828. Medicare was $962. Pennsylvania Withholding was $446. Colorado Withholding was $192. Travel expenses, per diem, food, and lodging were $1862.
We raised money, spending a bit over $11,000 on the effort. Merchandise and software came to $4736. Telemarketing including $4000 to Freedom Calls and $800 to Goulash Media. Postage and shipping was $1749.
Consultants and outside experts cost $48,670. In detail: Legal expenses were $16,475 to Oliver Hall and Fresh IP LLC. The Board Meeting consultant training to Strategists, Inc, cost $8302. Fundraising consulting came to $5167 to Brian McWilliams, Lori Stacey, and Matthew Butts. All In One accounting covered this with $4920. CRM Consulting to David Aitken and Cornerstone Solutions came to $4255. Web and IT Consulting to Matthew Hudson were $4200. Freedom Fest consulting to Smilodon was another $3351. FEC consulting to Paula Edwards came to $2000.
Affiliate support, broadly defined, came to under $11,000, including $5000 for petitioning. Candidate Campaign support was $3158, mostly for Voter Gravity. Michael Heise was paid $2400 for Outreach and Activism. Our Alaska and California affiliates received $229 as affiliates.
Credit Card Payments were $7298. Credit card fees were $376.56. Bank Fees were $251. Bank service charge was $61.
Software, Hardware and other IT were $2981. Utilities were $892. Office Supplies and non-capital equipment came to $793. We paid $210 to Trimark for cleaning our office.
Meeting rooms in Tennessee were $403. We paid $400 for space for Historical Preservation. We paid $196 for a cell phone in Dallas, Texas.
Identified Joint Fundraising expenses came to $94,591, notably $12,000 to Joseph Amaroso and $71,550 to Aztlan trading. Possibly related were $50,000 in legal expenses to Fortunate Media and $18,000 in legal expenses to Hiller video.
What a fall. When they run out of money to pay bills, how long will vendors put up with it? I agree with the comment that it could take months, But don’t forget that they have to continue to file FEC reports.
As soon as the next one is filed after they have run out of money, the end should be very quick. Who wants to donate money if it’s only going to be misappropriated?
My guess is it the LNC will very quickly start demanding that the states cough up money to keep the national party afloat. The remaining solvent states, and the few that have not been taken over, will have a decision to make.
Why do I think they will do this? Because they clearly act as if they believe that the state affiliates are subservient to them and not separate organizations. They have acted this way this entire term and the previous.
The payment to Lori Stacey was for ballot access petitioning, not fundraising.
I am not surprised that the quoted reason is false. I report the quantity that was stated under penalty of perjury
This is not the first time I have seen an expense misclassified or listed in a vague manner on an LP campaign finance report. I have seen this happen multiple times over the years.
Andy this is every single time. This “accounting firm” certainly isn’t doing better than staff or volunteers.
At their current level of spending versus income, at what point are they insolvent?
Some time between election day and the New Year:
At the start of the August reporting period, the LNC had $349,000 cash on hand and $390,000 in debts. Total normal donations for the month, itemized and unitemized, came to $71,000. There was also $92,300 for “administrative expenses” from the Kennedy JFA. Non-Kennedy expenditures came to $117,000, a deficit of $46,000.
Large amounts of money nominally under LNC control pass `through the Joint Fundraising arrangement, but these have no effect on when the LNC goes broke, except that more Kennedy JFA income means more administrative expenses for the LNC.
The LNC can always not pay off debts, but at some point attorneys will become involved.
At the start of August, the LNC had $390,000 in debts and $349,000 cash on hand, so it was in the hole for $41,000. Cancelling the non-Kennedy expenditures of $117,000 against the normal income of $71,000, the LNC sank another $46,000 into debt. At the end of the month the LNC was therefore $87,000 in debt ($41K at the start of the month, another $46K accumulated during the month). That debt is covered by the Kennedy money and the Mapstead/ter Maat income, $92,300 and $11,800, so at the end of August the LNC appears to claim to have $17,000 free and clear cash on hand. From the above, the LNC was bleeding cash at about $10,000 per week, so in mid-September the LNC was in the negative net worth cash regime.
As is well known, zombie corporations can go on for some time, so there is reality, but it may take a bit for reality to catch up with the LNC. Also, for some unclear period the Kennedy Joint Fundraiser will keep generating income. Nonetheless, unless the Kennedy fundraiser just keeps collecting cash, by Christmas the LNC might be a month behind on paying its bills.
That is not exactly right because allegedly some big dump is coming from Trump towards convention expenses. They are pushing out cuddly “let’s help candidates” emails to try to clean up their image while they still do the bare minimum (even the header image hasn’t changed ONCE and they don’t push out campaign news like they used to) so probably February or so. McAddled is counting on a cabinet appointment or freeing of Ross to boost fundraising between now and then.
I appreciate your work on this.