Fort Worth, TX — Should a donation to a candidate of just five dollars—or even less—result in your personal information being posted online for anyone to find? Confusingly, current law says “sometimes.”
If you personally hand a check for $200 to the federal candidate of your choice, no problem. The law says that your personal information is safe. But if your donation, no matter how small, passes through an online conduit like WinRed and ActBlue? Bad news. Your name and address information is now exposed online.
The Institute for Free Speech strongly believes that small-dollar donors’ privacy should be uniformly protected. That’s why attorneys from the Institute, along with local counsel Warren V. Norred, filed a federal lawsuit late yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of Tony McDonald, a small-dollar donor from Fort Worth. The suit challenges the constitutionality of federal campaign finance disclosure requirements for small-dollar donors who use online platforms to donate.
The lawsuit seeks to make disclosure rules uniform by enjoining the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from applying federal disclosure requirements to contributions of $200 or less made through online fundraising platforms like WinRed or ActBlue.
Under current law, political committees are not required to disclose identifying information for donors who give $200 or less. However, when these same small-dollar donations are made through online platforms, the donor’s personal information must be reported to the FEC and posted online.
The plaintiff, who serves as General Counsel for the Tarrant County Republican Party, fears that the public disclosure of his small-dollar political donations could lead to confusion over the party’s stance in primary races and misunderstandings regarding the intent of his donations, effectively chilling his ability to engage in anonymous political speech.
“A small-dollar donor’s privacy is constitutionally protected because a modest contribution can’t be corrupting,” said Institute for Free Speech Senior Attorney Charles “Chip” Miller. “That’s why direct small-dollar donations are not publicly reported. This discrepancy requiring reporting of indirect donations violates the First Amendment and must end. Undoubtedly, most of the millions of citizens who donate to federal candidates online don’t know that such a small contribution results in a loss of privacy.”
The lawsuit argues that the disclosure requirement for conduit contributions violates donors’ First Amendment rights to free speech and association. It seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the FEC from requiring disclosure of donor information for contributions of $200 or less made through online platforms—bringing the law in line with reporting requirements for direct donations. The platforms would still be required to report the information to the receiving campaign so that the campaign would know the identity and could make appropriate reports to the FEC if other contributions from the same supporter push the total over $200.
The complaint highlights the massive scale of the disclosure of small-dollar donations. Between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024, WinRed reported routing over $1.6 billion in earmarked contributions, with its latest quarterly report exceeding 4.5 million pages. Over 55 million of WinRed’s conduit contributions totaled $200 or less during this period, and over 6 million of these contributions totaled just $1 or less.
The FEC itself has recognized issues with the current law. In December 2023 and again in December 2024, the Commission unanimously approved legislative recommendations urging Congress to amend the reporting requirement for conduit contributions to establish an itemization threshold consistent with other reporting requirements. The agency told Congress the change was a “highest priority” recommendation.
“The FEC has repeatedly admitted that there’s a problem, but Congress hasn’t acted,” Miller added. “Meanwhile, millions of Americans have their personal information needlessly exposed. It’s time for the courts to step in and protect the rights of small-dollar donors.”
“When I make a small donation to a candidate, I should have the same privacy protections regardless of the method of my donation,” said Tony McDonald. “I’ve had personal donations unexpectedly made public simply because the recipient—unbeknownst to me—used an online platform to process contributions. Americans have long enjoyed the right to make modest political contributions without public disclosure, and using modern technology shouldn’t strip us of that important protection.”
The lawsuit requests that the court certify questions about the constitutionality of the law (at 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a)(8)) to the en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as provided by another part of federal campaign finance law (52 U.S.C. § 30110). It also asks the court to order the FEC to remove the plaintiff’s past small-dollar conduit donations from its public reports.
To read the complaint in the lawsuit, McDonald v. Federal Election Commission, click here. To read more about the case, please see our case page here.
About the Institute for Free Speech
The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment.
