1. Hard Money: Contributions to campaigns that are subject to regulation of the FEC-- Limits on how much can be donated and where donations can come from.

2. Political Action Committee: Organization that collects political donations from its members and uses the funds to influence an election.

3. Soft Money: Donations not regulated by the FEC -- "party building" activities allowed but not individual contributions for a candidate. Issue Ads often used with soft money because they argue against opponent but do not push voting for a specific candidate. The Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act attempted to challenge the overuse of soft money but Citizens United v FEC (2010) overturned this legislation.

4. Super PAC: organization that collects unlimited funding for a variety of sources, but the money does not go specifically to an election campaign or political party-- focused on providing independent expenditure ads- ads that support or argue against any candidate

5. Joint Fundraising Committee: fundraising organization.