Category: PAC Budget Planning | Read time: 4 minutes
Every PAC manager has been asked some version of this question: “Why did we give to that candidate?” The answer should never be improvised. 2
A defensible disbursement strategy starts long before the check is written. It starts with a written framework that any board member, auditor, or skeptical employee can read and understand.
The Four-criteria Model
We recommend evaluating every contribution decision against four criteria, weighted to match your company’s priorities:
Committee jurisdiction
Does the legislator sit on a committee with direct authority over your industry’s regulation? This is usually the highest-weighted factor.
Geographic footprint
Does the legislator represent a district where your company employs people, operates facilities, or invests significantly?
Voting record on priority issues
How has the legislator voted on the issues your government affairs team is actively working?
Leadership and influence
Is the legislator in a leadership position, on a fast track, or otherwise positioned to shape outcomes beyond their immediate vote?
What this looks like in practice
Each candidate request runs through a one-page scoring sheet. The scoring sheet doesn’t make the decision — humans do — but it ensures every decision is documented, consistent, and explainable.
Three things tend to happen when companies adopt this framework:
- Disbursement debates get shorter and less political internally.
- The PAC team’s relationship with the board improves measurably — predictability builds trust.
- Patterns emerge that surface gaps (e.g., “we have no relationship with anyone on the committee that just opened jurisdiction over our supply chain”)
The Board Test
Before finalizing your disbursement strategy, ask: could a board member, given the criteria document alone, predict how we’d respond to a contribution request? If the answer is yes, the framework is working.
Partner with Aristotle Consulting
Aristotle Consulting helps public affairs, government relations, and PAC teams build smarter programs and sharper communications. From strategy and compliance to fundraising and stakeholder engagement, our team brings decades of experience helping organizations turn political engagement into measurable impact.