City & County of San Francisco
San FranciscoEthics Commission

• “Ad paid for by [committee’s name]”(on file with Form 410 or 461) (Note: a printed letter ad may use “Paid for by” instead of “Ad paid for by”) followed by:
• “Committee major funding from [name(s) and dollar amount contributed of top three (3) donors of $5,000 or more]” additionally, if any of the top contributors are committees, [list the committees top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more] (see example disclaimer) – each listed on a separate horizontal line, centered horizontally, in descending order, beginning with the largest contributor and may not appear in all capital letters (not applicable to non-recipient committees)
  • Newspaper, magazine or other print advertisements that are twenty (20) square inches or less must only disclose the single top contributor of $5,000 or more
  • “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.”
  • Disclosure Format: All text must be in Arial equivalent font, in at least 10-point size, in a contrasting color, centered horizontally and, except for the names of top contributors, underlined. The names of top contributors may not be underlined and the text may not be condensed. If there are no top contributors, the “Ad paid for by” need not be underlined. All text must appear in a printed or drawn box with a solid white background at the bottom of at least one page and set apart from other printed matter

• “Ad paid for by [committee’s name]” (on file with Form 410 or 461) followed by:
• “Committee major funding from [name(s) and dollar amount contributed of top three (3) donors of $5,000 or more]” additionally, if any of the top contributors are committees, [list the committees top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more] (see example disclaimer) – each listed on a separate horizontal line, centered horizontally, in descending order, beginning with the largest contributor and may not appear in all capital letters (not applicable to non-recipient committees)
• “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.”
• Disclosure Format: All text must be in contrasting color and in Arial equivalent font. The font must be a height of at least five percent of the advertisement, meaning that each line must be at least five percent of the advertisement, in a printed or drawn box with a solid white background on the bottom of the advertisement that is set apart from any other printed matter and shall not be condensed to be narrower than a normal non-condensed Arial equivalent type.

• “Ad paid for by [committee’s name]” (on file with Form 410 or 461)
• “Committee major funding from [name(s) and dollar amount contributed of top three (3) donors of $5,000 or more]” additionally, if any of the top contributors are committees, list the committees top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more (see example disclaimer)” – in descending order, beginning with the largest contributor (not applicable to non-recipient committees)
• A statement that the advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate
• “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.”
• Disclosure Format: Must be spoken clearly for at least three (3) seconds at the beginning of the ad or call, in a pitch and tone substantially similar to the rest of the advertisement
  • Exception: The disclaimer does not need to speak the dollar amount of contributions

• Radio and prerecorded telephone ads must disclose only the top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more unless the ad lasts fifteen (15) seconds or less or the disclaimer statement would last more than eight (8) seconds, in which case only the single top contributor must be disclosed

• “Ad paid for by [committee’s name]” (on file with Form 410 or 461)
• “Committee major funding from [name(s) and dollar amount contributed of top three (3) donors of $5,000 or more]” additionally, if any of the top contributors are committees, list the committees top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more (see example disclaimer)” – in descending order, beginning with the largest contributor (not applicable to non-recipient committees)
• “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.”
• A statement that the advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate
• The disclaimer must be spoken at the beginning of the ad (The spoken disclaimer is not required to disclose the dollar amounts of contributions)

• Disclosure Format: All text must be centered horizontally in the disclosure area, in a contrasting color, in Arial equivalent type and, if there are top contributors, must be underlined except as specified below.The size for the smallest letters must be four percent of the height of the display screen and must be displayed at the beginning of the ad for at least five (5) seconds of a broadcast of 30 seconds or less or for at least 10 seconds of a broadcast longer than 30 seconds. If a video is distributed as an electronic media advertisement and is longer than 30 seconds, the disclosures must be displayed at the beginning of the advertisement. If the television or video ad is shorter than the required disclosure display time, the disclosure may be displayed for the length of the advertisement
  • Disclosure must appear on a solid black background on the entire bottom one third of the display screen, or bottom one-fourth (1/4) if no top contributor
  • Each top contributor must be disclosed on a separate horizontal line separate from other text, may not be underlined and may not be condensed or have the spacing between characters reduced to be narrower than a normal non-condensed Arial equivalent type, unless doing so is necessary to keep the name of a contributor from exceeding the width of the screen
  • The “Not authorized by” disclaimer must appear below all other text in the solid black background in a contrasting color, in Arial equivalent type, and in no less than 2.5 percent (2.5%) of the height of the display screen and is not required to be underlined.
  • The “Committee major funding from” and “Not authorized by” disclaimers may not appear in all capital letters

• “Who funded this ad” text as a hyperlink in a contrasting color and font size that is easily readable by the average viewer*
  • Must hyperlink to a website containing the “Ad paid for by,” “Committee major funding from,” and “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org” disclaimers in a contrasting color and in no less than 8-point font
  • “Committee major funding from” disclaimer may not appear in all capital letters
  • Must remain online until thirty (30) days after the date of election

  *This text is not required if including it is impracticable. In such circumstances the ad need only include a hyperlink to a website containing the website disclaimers

• “Ad paid for by,” “Committee major funding from,” and “Not authorized by”
  disclosures in a contrasting color that is easily readable by the average viewer and in no less than 10-point font on the cover or header photo committee’s profile, landing page, or similar location; disclosures are not required on each individual post or comment
• The disclosures must be visible on the cover or header photo when the profile, landing page, or similar location is viewed from any electronic device that is commonly used to view this form of electronic media including, but not limited to, a computer screen, laptop, tablet or smart phone. If this is impracticable only a hyperlink, icon, button, or tab to an internet website containing the required “Ad paid for by,” “Committee major funding from,”and “Not authorized by” disclosures is permissible.
• “Committee major funding from” and “Not authorized by” disclaimers may not appear in all capital letters
• Not required when the only expense or cost of the communication is compensated staff time unless the account was created only for the purpose of ads under the Act

• “Paid for by,” “Committee major funding from,” “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org,”and “Not authorized by” disclaimers in a contrasting color and in no less than 8-point font at the top or bottom of the email message and every publicly accessible page of the Internet website
  • “Committee major funding from” and “Not authorized by” disclaimers may not appear in all capital letters
    Note: The “Committee major funding from” disclosure requirement is not applicable to non-recipient committees.

• See disclaimer requirements for radio ads above

• • In addition to other disclaimers, include: “[spokesperson’s name] is being paid by this campaign or its donors”
  • Printed, televised or video ad: shown continuously in highly visible font except when the disclosure for television and video ads above is being shown
  • Radio broadcast or phone message: spoken in clearly audible format

• • In addition to the disclaimer above, include: “Persons portraying members of an occupation in this advertisement are compensated spokespersons not necessarily employed in those occupations”
  • Printed or televised ad: shown continuously in highly visible font
  • Radio broadcast or phone message: spoken in clearly audible format
  • Exception: If the paid individual is actually a member of the occupation portrayed, the committee may omit this disclaimer. The committee must maintain documentation of the individual’s license or certification

• “Paid for by” or “With”, “Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org” followed by the name of the committee, or a hyperlink or URL for an internet website containing the following disclosures:
  • “Committee major funding from [name(s) and dollar amount contributed of top three (3) donors of $5,000 or more]” additionally, if any of the top contributors are committees, list the committees top two (2) contributors of $5,000 or more (see example disclaimer)” (not applicable to non-recipient committees).
  • A statement that the advertisement was not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate
  • The text of the disclosures on the internet website shall be in a color that reasonably contrasts with the background on which it appears and in no less than 8-point
• If “With” is used:
  • The individual sending the text shall identify themselves by including: “(name of the individual) with (name of committee or hyperlink or )”
  • A disclosure using “With” may appear anywhere in the text message, including conversational content, and need not appear as a separate statement apart from the content of the
• Top Contributors: A committee that has top contributors must comply with the following:
  • Immediately following the name of the committee or the hyperlink or URL, the text message shall also include the text “Top funders:” followed by the names of the top two contributors of $5,000 or more to the committee paying for the advertisement, separated by “&” or “and.”
  • The names of the top two contributors may be spelled using acronyms, abbreviations, or other shorthand in common usage or parlance. If the contributor is an individual their first and last name shall both be used.
  • If the disclosure would exceed 35 characters, the text should disclose only the single top contributor of $5,000 or more to the committee paying for the
  • The text message is not required to include the name of a top contributor after the text “Top funders:” If the text message includes the name of the committee paying for the advertisement and the committee’s name includes the name of that top
  • The text shall be in a color that reasonably contrasts with the background on which it appears and in a font size that is readable by the average viewer.
  • For a committee that has top contributors and uses individuals who are unpaid volunteers to send text messages with the assistance of mass distribution technology, the text message sent by these individuals are not required to disclose the top two contributors, but the text message shall include a disclosure stating that the text message is being sent by a volunteer.

• An internet website that is hyperlinked shall remain online and available to the public until 30 days after the
• For text message exchanges consisting of a sequence of multiple text messages sent on the same day the disclosure is only required on the first text message in the sequence that supports or opposes a candidate or

Text required to be included in a text message must be in a color that reasonably contrasts with the background on which it appears and in a font size that is readable by the average viewer