A federal donation programme needs a current FEC registration

The requirementstatement

A federal candidate, committee or party running a donation programme must be currently registered with the FEC.

Severityseverity: BlockingBLOCKINGBreaking this rule gets the submission rejected. There is no partial credit.
When it bitesphase: Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
What is checkedobject: the FEC registration
Where it liveslayer: BrandBRAND
How Ekas settles itdetectability: External recordEXTERNAL_DATA; The fact that settles it lives in a register we cannot query, such as the IRS file, a postal database, or another provider’s tenant. Reported as a warning with the evidence to check, not as a pass.
What the fix involvesfailureClass: Wait on someone elseTERMINAL_EXTERNAL; Needs an external system or a waiting period, such as IRS propagation, a vetting result, or a carrier queue.
Who requires itauthorities: CTIA
When it appliesapplicabilityText: Applies when the use case is POLITICAL.

Why this rule existsrationale

Political donation messaging carries the highest scrutiny of any use case, and a current FEC registration is the baseline that makes the rest of it reviewable. "Currently" is the load-bearing word: registrations lapse between cycles, and a committee reactivating for a new cycle can be messaging weeks before its filing catches up.

How to fix itremediation

Confirm the committee's FEC registration is current before any donation messaging goes out, and keep the committee ID with the brand record. State and local candidates use the equivalent state filing.

Check this yourselfattestation

No tool can settle this one for you. Here is the check, and what wrong looks like.

Is the committee's FEC registration active for the current cycle, today?

1Look the committee up in the FEC database and confirm the registration is current, not merely present. State and local candidates check the equivalent state filing.
2Keep the committee ID with the brand record.

What wrong looks like: A committee reactivating for a new cycle is messaging weeks before its filing catches up. "Currently registered" is the load-bearing phrase, and it is fixed by filing rather than by anything in the messaging setup.

Notesnotes

FEC status is public but not something we query. What the user has to do is check their own committee in the FEC database and confirm it is active for the current cycle — a lapsed registration is the common case at the start of a cycle, and it is fixed by filing rather than by anything in the messaging setup.

Rules you will hit next

Other brand rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.

BRD-001A legal company name is required for every entity but a sole proprietorBlockingBLOCKING BRD-002Legal name must match the IRS record for the EINBlockingBLOCKING BRD-003Legal name must carry its exact entity suffix as filedBlockingBLOCKING BRD-008Legal name must not carry an appended personal name or roleBlockingBLOCKING BRD-009The legal name field takes the legal name, not the trading nameBlockingBLOCKING BRD-011A legal business name may back only one brand across the whole registryBlockingBLOCKING

All brand rules

BRD-251 is one of 196 brand rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.