Small Donor Elections Code, Administrative Rules, and Program Forms

Small Donor Elections Code 

You can read the Small Donor Elections Code by clicking here.

Small Donor Elections Administrative Rules

You can read the program's Administrative Rules here:

Small Donor Elections Program Documents and Forms 

2026 Election Cycle Contribution Limits, Match Rate, Dates & Deadlines, and Candidate Guide

Training

Before applying to participate in Small Donor Elections, our office encourages candidates to contact us for a training. We schedule trainings one on one for each campaign. Please email or call us to schedule a training by suggesting three dates and times when your campaign is available for a 90 minute training over Zoom. You may take a training even if you are not sure you are running for office or are not sure you wish to participate in the Small Donor Elections program. 

Filing to Participate

If a candidates has decided that they would like to apply to participate in Small Donor Elections, they must turn in this form:

Shortly after filing a Notice of Intent, campaigns must register in the city's Ariba system, so that, once they are certified, they can receive matching funds from the city, using these instructions:

Collecting Donations

When raising cash or money order contributions, campaigns must provide the program with a completed Donor Attestation Form, or a remit slip plus the completed grey box from the Cash Donor Form:

We highly recommend asking donors on your remit slip to check a box confirming whether they live in Portland. This can help us validate whether they are a matchable donor under some circumstances. 

If a political committee or nonprofit wants to know if they qualify as a Small Donor Organization and can give according to those contribution limits, they may submit this form. Political committees and nonprofits that fit the definition may contribute to participating campaigns without submitting the application. 

Reporting Contributions and Expenditures

As candidates raise funds, they must report their contributions and expenditures to our office along the same timeline that they report to the Secretary of State’s office—every 30 days until the final 6 weeks, when it changes to every 7 days.  OpenElectionsPortland.org allows campaigns to bulk upload the contributions instead of having to enter them individually. Here are the instructions for how to bulk upload contributions for participating campaigns as well as a template referenced in the instructions. 

Applying for Certification

Candidates who have met all certification requirements may apply for certification. Once certified, they begin receiving matching funds. Candidates running for Council who have met the requirements to qualify for the Tier 2 or 3 matching fund caps may file the Tier 2 and 3 Application.  

Other

These other forms are for unique circumstances throughout the election. Please contact our office if you have questions about them. 

Complaints:  please file complaints using the joint Small Donor Elections and Auditor's office form found here. 

Only after getting a response to the Request for Reconsideration form, may an appeal be filed with the City of Portland's Hearings Office.