Elections & terms
dark money
Political spending by groups that are not required to disclose their donors, typically nonprofits organized under section 501(c)(4).
In full
A social welfare nonprofit may spend on politics so long as that is not its primary purpose, and it reports to the IRS rather than disclosing donors publicly. Money can also pass from such a group to a super PAC, so the super PAC's disclosed donor is the nonprofit and the original source stays unknown. Disclosure bills addressing this have repeatedly failed in Congress.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.