Exploratory committees allow prospective candidates to raise money and hire staff, and they do not have to report financial activity to the Federal Election Commission.
[1] Forming an exploratory committee for president almost always precedes an official candidacy, though some, such as Paul Wellstone in 2000 and Evan Bayh in 2008, have declined to formally run.
NPR reporter Ron Elving described the use of exploratory committees in his story, "Declaring for President is a Dance of Seven Veils," which aired on December 5, 2006.
He wrote: The exploratory committee has been around for decades, and technically it creates a legal shell for a candidate who expects to spend more than $5,000 while contemplating an actual run.
Additional "news" can be made when the same candidate actually forms such a committee and registers with the Federal Election Commission.