BIPAC was formed in August 1963 by officials in the National Association of Manufacturers

National Association of Manufacturers

The National Association of Manufacturers is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C. with 10 additional offices across the country...

 with seed funding from that organization, with the goal of electing business-friendly candidates. The group is not officially affiliated with either political party, but has given much more support to Republicans than to Democrats.

CorpWatch

CorpWatch

CorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...

 states that BIPAC's primary activity is "to influence how the employees of its 400 member companies vote," a process described in more detail by Mother Jones

Mother Jones (magazine)

Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...

. Before the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United ruling

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, , was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prohibits government from censoring political broadcasts in candidate elections when those broadcasts are funded by corporations or unions...

, businesses were allowed to circulate political information to their employees but not to campaign directly for specific candidates. Now that corporations can legally use corporate funds to support favored candidates, BIPAC planned to expand its operations and its budget.

Several distinct legal entities operate within the framework of BIPAC:

• The Business Institute for Political Analysis is the operations and administrative core of BIPAC which provides the bulk of BIPAC services and programs. The Institute is a membership organization that does not lobby Congress on issues.
• The Action Fund is the political action committee
  Political action committee
  In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
  
   of BIPAC as recognized by the Federal Election Commission
  Federal Election Commission
  The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
  
  . Contributions to the Action Fund can come from individuals and other PACs, but not from corporations.
• BIPAC 's Prosperity Project (P2) helps businesses to promote pro-business politicians to their employees.

BIPAC's affiliated state deployment partners (those who officially host the Prosperity Project grassroots

AstroTurf

AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...

 initiative in each state) include affiliates of the National Association of Manufacturers

National Association of Manufacturers

The National Association of Manufacturers is an advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C. with 10 additional offices across the country...

 and more than twenty state Chambers of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

.