As we near the 2016 presidential election, more and more corporations are loosening up their purse strings to donate to the Republicans or Democrats.
The majority of these donations will go to the super PACs supporting individual candidates, but not all. Some of the donations will be "hard money" – that is, cash given directly to candidates' campaigns, regular PACs, or political parties, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Hard money donations are different from super PAC donations, which have an uncapped donation limit. The hard money cap varies depending on what donation method is used.
Most hard money donations are used for candidates' salaries, travel, phone bills, rent, or TV ads, according to the CRP. Hard money is also able to be used more effectively by the candidates, who can choose what it goes toward, unlike super PAC donations.
Many hard money givers also have a long history of lobbying Washington, like our top five hard money corporate donors. These companies usually give through their PACs rather than donating through individual employees, according the CRP. The PACs contribute to their corporations' favorite political candidates, often giving them the maximum amount of $5,000 per candidate per election, the CRP reports.
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