What is a 501(c)(4) organization? According to The 2024 CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability, IRC section 501(c)(4) exempts from federal income tax “certain civic groups and nonprofit organizations, whose primary purpose is to promote social welfare.”
“With Donald Trump, everything is transactional and based on his animosity towards people. Some companies donate to gain access, while others do so for protection,” Bruce Freed explains
“Every company is lining up to ‘buy favors,’” said Bruce Freed, CPA President.
“The donations to the inaugural fund are basically to gain favour and to gain access,” said Bruce Freed, president and co-founder of the Center for Political Accountability
The high risk of getting political spending wrong makes it ripe for focused oversight, said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability.
In thinking ahead to the 2025 proxy season, companies should consider, among other things, their CPA-Zicklin Index score.
When Donald Trump was elected the 47th US president earlier this month, he did so with considerable help from corporate America. But corporate money is not just deeply embedded in political campaigns, it also has a major influence on the success or failure of specific legislation.
The Index’s data reflect leading companies holding firm overall to established norms of political disclosure and accountability, despite fierce headwinds against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and related principles for investors and U.S. corporations.
In 2020, fewer than half of companies in the S&P 500 disclosed their election-related contributions to PACs and trade associations, according to the Center for Political Accountability. Among those that did disclose, two-thirds of their spending went to trade associations.
Wells Fargo gave a total of $704,300 to three Democratic and three Republican organizations known as 527s that are focused on electing governors, attorneys general and state lawmakers, according to data from the Center for Political Accountability