The Quick Answer
Campaign Verify is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit that verifies U.S. political campaigns, parties and PACs. Once verified, you create an Authorization Token and give it to your texting provider, who uses it to register you for political texting on 10DLC numbers. It is for 527 political committees registered with the FEC or a state, local or tribal election authority. The fee is $95 per two-year election cycle. Review takes minutes to two business days, plus however long your PIN takes to arrive.
What Campaign Verify Is (and Isn't)
Campaign Verify is a nonprofit identity check for political committees. It looks at your committee's public filing with an election authority, confirms the person applying can receive a PIN at the contact details on that filing, and then lets you create tokens that prove your identity to the texting ecosystem.
It is not The Campaign Registry (TCR). TCR is a company that manages 10DLC registration on behalf of the major U.S. wireless carriers. Campaign Verify is one of TCR's vetting partners. You never register with TCR yourself: TCR only works with Campaign Service Providers (CSPs), which is the industry name for your texting provider.
In short: Campaign Verify checks who you are. Your texting provider registers your texting program with TCR and uses your token to show that a verified political committee is behind it.
Who Needs Campaign Verify?
Eligible for Campaign Verify
- Federal candidate committees
- State, local and tribal candidate committees
- Political parties
- PACs
- Other political committees, as long as they are 527 organizations registered with an election authority
Not Eligible
- 501(c)(3) organizations
- 501(c)(4) organizations
- Sole proprietors
- Businesses
- Other non-campaign entity types
The test has two parts: your organization is a 527 tax-exempt political organization, and it is registered with the FEC or a state, local or tribal election authority. In the rare case that a 527 is not registered with any election authority, Campaign Verify will accept a published IRS filing that lists the organization's contact details.
Is It Required?
Campaign Verify says some U.S. wireless carriers have required political 527s texting on 10DLC to have a Campaign Verify token since 2021. As of February 17, 2026, a carrier also began requiring tokens for political texting on short codes and toll-free numbers. Campaign Verify warns that political groups that skip verification and send bulk texts may face fines or blocked messages from some carriers.
Why Carriers Ask for It
10DLC (10-digit long code) is the sanctioned standard for application-to-person texting from ordinary 10-digit phone numbers. Senders and their texting programs are registered with TCR before they send, so carriers know who is sending and what.
Political committees get a special registration category in TCR, the political special use case. Your texting provider unlocks it by importing your Campaign Verify token, and it gives political senders more texting capacity. That is the practical reason to verify: the token is what lets your provider register you under the political use case.
How Long Does Campaign Verify Take?
| Step | Time (per Campaign Verify) |
|---|---|
| Staff review of your request | Minutes to two business days |
| PIN by email or text | Immediate after approval |
| PIN by phone call | At the time window you choose |
| PIN by postal mail | About 5 to 10 business days (FedEx upgrade available) |
| Token creation after you enter the PIN | Immediate |
Campaign Verify says delays happen when a committee's published filing is not readily available or does not meet its verification criteria. After you have a token, your texting provider still has to complete 10DLC registration, so leave room for that too.
If you are short on time, Campaign Verify offers an expedited request for $400 with a two-business-day service level. You submit a short notice form first, ideally a business day ahead. If Campaign Verify misses its service level, you pay only the standard $95.
What Does Campaign Verify Cost?
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Campaign Verify verification (all committee types) | $95 per two-year election cycle |
| Expedited verification | $400 |
| Creating Authorization Tokens for texting | No extra fee |
| Amending a rejected request | No second fee if you fix it by replying to the rejection notice |
| VoterPing 10DLC campaign verification service | $150, includes Campaign Verify's $95 fee |
The Campaign Verify fees above are set by Campaign Verify. VoterPing's 10DLC campaign verification service is $150, which includes Campaign Verify's $95 fee. Your quote spells out exactly what is included.
What You Need Before You Apply
- An EIN for the committee. Campaign Verify does not accept Social Security numbers. You can get an EIN from the IRS online.
- A link to your published filing with the FEC or your state, local or tribal election authority. For federal committees, look it up at fec.gov/data. If the record has no direct link, you can give the search page URL plus short instructions for finding it.
- Committee details that match the filing exactly: name, address and contact details as they appear on the record.
- Access to an email address, phone number or postal address listed on the filing. The PIN only goes to contact details on the filing, so if your treasurer's details are listed, tell them to expect it.
- A Campaign Verify account at app.campaignverify.org, with multi-factor authentication turned on.
How to Get Verified, Step by Step
- Confirm you are eligible. You need to be a 527 political committee registered with an election authority.
- Sign up. New users fill out Campaign Verify's Get Started form, then create an account in the submission portal and set up multi-factor authentication.
- Start a new verification request. Choose the Federal form if you are registered with the FEC, or the State/Local form for state, local or tribal committees. If you file with both, either works; Campaign Verify says FEC filings are usually faster.
- Fill in the form and pay. Enter information that matches your online filing and pay the $95 fee.
- Wait for review. A Campaign Verify staff member approves or rejects the request, usually within minutes to two business days.
- Get your PIN. Campaign Verify sends a six-digit PIN by email, text, phone call or mail, only to contact details on your filing.
- Enter the PIN and create a token. Log back in, enter the PIN, choose the channel (10DLC, short code or toll-free), and create an Authorization Token. If you are not sure which channel, ask your texting provider.
- Send the token to your texting provider securely. Your provider submits 10DLC tokens to The Campaign Registry and completes your political registration.
For more detail on each screen, see our Campaign Verify token guide, and for the provider side, the 10DLC registration guide.
After You Get Your Token
- One token per texting provider. If you switch providers or use two at once, each needs its own token.
- One token per channel. A 10DLC token will be rejected on toll-free or short code, and the other way around.
- Extra tokens are free. While your verification is active you can create as many as you need.
- Treat it like a password. Campaign Verify says not to post it publicly or share it widely. If you think it leaked, contact Campaign Verify support.
- Know what it looks like. A token starts with "cv" and has six fields separated by the pipe character (|). In a 10DLC token the third field is "tcr" and the fourth is "10dlc".
When Does Campaign Verify Expire?
Verifications, and every token created from them, run on two-year election cycles:
| Request submitted | Valid until |
|---|---|
| November 15, 2024 to November 14, 2026 | January 31, 2027 |
| November 15, 2026 to November 14, 2028 | January 31, 2029 |
Texting Into 2027?
A committee verified this cycle is covered through January 31, 2027. If you plan to keep texting after that, you will need a new verification request and a new $95 fee. Requests submitted on or after November 15, 2026 fall into the next cycle.
Why Requests Get Rejected, and How to Fix It
The details don't match the filing
Campaign Verify checks your submission against your public filing. Copy the committee name, address and contact details exactly as they appear on the record.
The filing isn't published online
Campaign Verify only accepts filings published by the election authority, not documents sent by the campaign. If you filed but the record is not online yet, contact the election authority, or Campaign Verify support for next steps.
Campaign Verify can't find the record
If your filing has no direct link, use the Instructions field to explain how to find it, for example which committee ID to search. Without instructions, Campaign Verify may reject the request.
Nobody can receive the PIN
The PIN only goes to contact details on the filing. Loop in whoever controls them, usually the treasurer, or update the filing with the election authority.
If a request is rejected, reply to the rejection notice with the information requested. Campaign Verify will amend and approve it if the new information is enough, without a second fee. If you cannot fix it, you are still responsible for the original $95.
Campaign Verify for Email
Since September 8, 2026, verified committees can also submit a sender email address for domain verification, which Campaign Verify shares with Gmail for its Verified Sender Program. It is optional and uses the same verification, with no extra fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Campaign Verify?
Campaign Verify is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit that verifies the identity of U.S. political campaigns, parties and PACs. It is one of the vetting partners of The Campaign Registry (TCR), which manages 10DLC texting registration for the major U.S. wireless carriers. Once you are verified, you create an Authorization Token and give it to your texting provider.
Who needs Campaign Verify?
Political committees that are 527 tax-exempt organizations and registered with the FEC or a state, local or tribal election authority: candidate committees, parties, PACs and other political committees. Some U.S. wireless carriers have required these groups to have a Campaign Verify token for 10DLC texting since 2021. Sole proprietors, 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s and businesses are not eligible.
How much does Campaign Verify cost?
Campaign Verify charges $95 per verification, for all committee types. The fee covers one two-year election cycle, and creating texting tokens costs nothing extra. An expedited request is $400. If VoterPing sets up your texting, VoterPing's 10DLC campaign verification service is $150, which includes Campaign Verify's $95 fee.
How long does Campaign Verify take?
Campaign Verify says staff approve or reject a request within minutes to two business days. You then need the six-digit PIN it sends to contact details on your public filing: email and text are immediate, while postal mail takes about 5 to 10 business days. Once you enter the PIN, token creation is immediate. Your texting provider still has to finish 10DLC registration after that.
Can I use one Campaign Verify token with more than one texting vendor?
No. Campaign Verify says each texting provider needs its own token, and each channel (10DLC, short code, toll-free) needs its own token too. You can create as many tokens as you need from the same verified request at no extra cost.
How long is a Campaign Verify token valid?
Tokens follow two-year election cycles. Requests submitted between November 15, 2024 and November 14, 2026 are valid until January 31, 2027. Requests submitted between November 15, 2026 and November 14, 2028 are valid until January 31, 2029. After a token expires you submit a new request and pay the $95 fee again.
Getting Help
If you have never done this before, the step that needs the most care is the filing: find your record online, check that it lists contact details you can reach, and copy it exactly. After that, the steps are short.
VoterPing handles 10DLC setup for the campaigns we text for, and we can walk you through the Campaign Verify request so your token is ready when your list and scripts are. Our 10DLC campaign verification service is $150, which includes Campaign Verify's $95 fee.
This page explains Campaign Verify's published process. It is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees can change, so check campaignverify.org before you apply.