FAQs

Is PolitiSoft.com aligned with any political party or organization?

No.  PolitiSoft.com is completely non-partisan, and non-aligned.  

If PolitiSoft.com is free to members, how does it stay in business?

PolitiSoft.com earns fees by providing a variety of services and software products to political candidates and organizations to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and integrity of their fundraising operations.  PolitiSoft.com also receives registration fees from candidates and political organizations who want to be able to receive contributions from members, as well as a processing fee for each on-line contribution that is made through PolitiSoft.com.  

Is PolitiSoft.com a Non-Profit Organization?

No.  PolitiSoft.com is owned and operated by InfoLoop LLC., a New Jersey for profit corporation.   

How does PolitiSoft’s electronic check option work?

Once a contribution is made through PolitiSoft using the electronic check option, an actual paper check is printed remotely with special magnetic inks in compliance with the new Check 21 banking regulations.  To use this option, you’ll need to enter the numbers imprinted on the bottom of your paper check which are the bank routing (ABA) number and bank account number (combined they are also known as the MICR numbers, which stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition).

PolitiSoft paper checks are processed in the same way regular paper checks are processed.  They contain standardized banking-industry language on the signature line that authorizes your bank to pay the check, but only to the candidate or political organization you have designated, without requiring your signature.  If the recipient candidate or organization is equipped to print checks in accordance with the Check 21 regulations, PolitiSoft.com will electronically transmit your authorization to issue the check in encrypted form to the PolitiSoft.com client campaign or candidate, which then can print the check on site and deposit it manually into its bank account.  For other recipient candidates and political organizations, PolitiSoft.com will print the check and mail it to the candidate or organization designated by the PolitiSoft.com member.

Are contributions immediately deposited into my campaign or organizations’ depository account?

No.  Pursuant to the terms of member’s PolitiSoft.com license agreement, their submission of a contribution in the form of an electronic check or credit card contribution merely authorizes the contribution, subject to the acceptance of the contribution by your campaign.  Once such a contribution is authorized, you will immediately receive an electronic alert and will provided ample opportunity to decide whether to accept the contribution.  The contribution will not be deposited to your account unless you affirmatively agree to accept it.

Why is there a difference in processing fees for credit card contributions versus online check contributions?

Each participating candidate or political organization that wants to accept credit card transactions on-line through PolitiSoft.com is provided with a separate merchant credit card account that ensures that your contribution goes directly to the account of the candidate or political organization you have designated to receive it.  Participating candidates and political organizations are charged a variable percentage of each credit card transaction received through PolitiSoft.com and charged to a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and/or Discover card. In addition to the variable percentage fee charged by each credit card company, these credit card companies also deduct certain flat and minimum transaction fees.  

PolitiSoft.com uses its own software to enable the processing of PolitiSoft paper checks payments internally.  PolitiSoft.com charges the candidates or political organizations a percentage-based transaction fee that is significantly less than fees charged by credit card companies or PayPal.  PolitiSoft.com also charges a postage and handling fee to the candidates or political organizations for mailing checks. The fees charged by PolitiSoft.com for electronic check payments are also significantly less than other electronic commercial check writing services, because PolitiSoft.com permits checks to be written and sent solely to candidates and political organizations that have signed a PolitiSoft.com licensing agreement.

Will our contributors receive a cancelled PolitiSoft from their bank?   

 If the contributor’s PolitiSoft is processed as a paper check, as opposed to an electronic transfer through the Automated Clearing House system, he or she will receive a cancelled check.  This assumes, of course, that the contributor’s bank still returns cancelled checks. 

How are contributors’ checking account and credit card information stored?

PolitiSoft.com employs numerous security measures to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of the information that is under our control.  Our servers are located in a secure environment, and are protected by industry standard firewall technology.  All confidential data on the server is encrypted.  Credit card and bank account numbers are masked whenever they are displayed on the PolitiSoft.com member’s screen. 

PoltiCheck.com uses state-of-the-art security protocols to protect sensitive data, such as contributor’s personal information, bank account or credit card numbers. The privacy of this data is ensured with a keyed symmetric encryption algorithm.  While this data is being transferred, it is protected by the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) using a 128-bit signed certificate.  PolitiSoft contributions are encrypted and securied through Verisign.  Credit card transactions are encrypted and secured through Authorize.net.

If you have a question about PolitiSoft.com’s privacy policy or security features, please contact us.

Does PolitiSoft.com receive or hold contributions at any time?

No. PolitiSoft.com is neither a bank nor a credit card processor, and is never in possession of your funds. That’s because most states either prohibit the commingling of political contributions destined for multiple candidates or organizations, or specify that electronic contributions must be made directly from a contributor’s account to the depository account of the candidate or political organization. PolitiSoft.com serves as an intermediary, providing the secure software link that enables individuals or businesses to contribute directly to political candidates and organizations, and to conveniently provide their identifying personal information, in compliance with these restrictions. 

If we register to receive contributions on-line through PolitiSoft.com, can we still receive contributions through our campaign or organization’s website?

Of course.  PolitiSoft.com offers a variety of on-line contribution solutions that are designed for campaigns and organizations large and small, including those that already have websites and on-line contribution solutions. 

To learn more these solutions, and to decide which is best suited for your campaign, please click here.

What is the PolitiSoft.com New Jersey Pilot Project?

PolitiSoft.com is working to make it as easy as possible for our members to find the candidates that are running to represent them.  PolitiSoft.com is beginning with a pilot project in New Jersey, patterned after a League of Women’s Voter project in California called SmartVoter.org.  PolitiSoft.com will utilize the PolitiSoft.com member’s address and the power of the internet to automatically provide PolitiSoft.com members in New Jersey with a list of each candidate - from local municipal offices to the governor - that will appear on the November 8, 2005 ballot.  Those candidates who have registered to receive contributions through PolitiSoft.com will be designated with an icon to let our members know that they can contribute directly to them on-line.  Candidates that have registered for PolitiSoft.com will be able to include an information page about their positions and views, or a link to their website.

What is PolitiSoft.com doing to encourage candidates and political organizations to sign up with PolitiSoft.com?

PolitiSoft.com will issue press releases, send out flyers to candidates and political organizations, and will contact state and county political organizations in an effort to get the word out about the advantages of registering their candidates and organizations with PolitiSoft.com. 

PolitiSoft.com is also offering group rate pricing in order to encourage large groups of political candidates to register with PolitiSoft.com.

PolitiSoft.com’s P-Code feature — which enable even candidates without websites to inlude the PolitiSoft-com logo on their invitations and campaign literatature encouraging contributions on-line — will also help quickly spread the word about PolitiSoft.com and encourage other candidates and political organizations to learn about our services.

We’re also designing PolitiSoft.com to enable our members to request that we alert them when a particular candidate or political organization signs up to receive contributions on line.  Candidates and organizations that haven’t yet registered for PolitiSoft.com can also check to see whether members or visitors to the site have searched for their campaign, or are awaiting an alert about their registration with PolitiSoft.com.