Privacy & Security > Information Validation

The PolitiSoft.com contributor Information Validation process is an important feature of the PolitiSoft.com system because it enables candidates and political organizations to automatically request and confirm contributor information that they must record and/or provide to campaign finance regulators.  The Information Validation process dramatically improves the efficiency of the candidate or political organization’s fundraising staff, while minimizing inconvenience to any contributor who has a PolitiSoft.com member account. For this reason, a free PolitiSoft.com membership is valuable even for those contributors who prefer to make their contributions by hand-written check.

The PolitiSoft.com Information Validation process works differently depending upon whether the PolitiSoft.com member has contributed on-line through PolitiSoft.com or via a paper check written directly to a campaign (e.g., by mail or at a fundraiser, etc.) or on a political organization’s website.

Validating On-Line Contributions Made Through PolitiSoft.com

Validation is easiest when a PolitiSoft.com member makes a contribution on-line through his or her member account. PolitiSoft.com members enter their personal identifying information once in their PolitiSoft account, where it is saved on PolitiSoft’s secure server. When a PolitiSoft.com member makes an on-line contribution to a political campaign or organization from this account, those items of personal information required by applicable campaign finance regulations (typically, the contributor’s full name, address, employer and occupation), are automatically transmitted electronically to the campaign or political organization, where they can be either imported to the organization’s database, or manually recorded. For those campaigns and organizations that subscribe to PolitiSoft’s companion fundraising management and compliance software, the information is automatically downloaded to the organization’s PolitiSoft database. If the campaign needs any additional information or clarification, the request can be made directly through the member’s PolitiSoft.com account, saving both the campaign and the contributor time and postage.

Validating Contributions Made Directly by PolitiSoft Members Via Paper Check

Validation is also easy when the PolitiSoft.com member makes a political contribution the old-fashioned way – by handwritten check written to a campaign or political organization that is a subscriber to PolitiSoft.com’s fundraising management and compliance software. When the campaign enters a contributor’s check and identification information into their PolitiSoft.com account, the contributor’s unique identifying information is automatically compared with PolitiSoft’s active member database. If there is a match on unique identifying information, the system compares the information provided by the contributor to the campaign with the PolitiSoft.com member’s information. If there is any significant discrepancy (e.g., different occupation listed or different address), an alert will be sent to the PolitiSoft.com member via email advising that validation has been requested, and requesting that the PolitiSoft.com member sign into his or her account, and confirm the correct information.  Once the PolitiSoft member has validated the correct information, the campaign’s records will be updated automatically by PolitiSoft.com with any changes, so that the campaign’s reported information is entirely accurate.