Democrats raise $141 million in April through ActBlue
Democrats raised $141 million in April through ActBlue, the party’s online donor platform, as candidates lean more heavily on its digital outreach during the coronavirus pandemic.
ActBlue announced in a blog post that the haul was fueled by about 4.5 million contributions from more than 1.8 million donors. The average donation amounted to $31.65.
The platform boasted that the haul was “the fifth largest month in ActBlue’s history by number of contributions, and sixth largest by total dollars raised and unique donors.”
Donations to ActBlue sharply rose in February to $210 million as the presidential primary continued on and tapered off in March to $157 million. While the April haul is a drop from the previous two months, it is a spike from the $50 million the group raised in April 2016.
WinRed, the Republican counterpart to ActBlue that was launched in 2019, said earlier this month it raised nearly $60 million in April, its largest monthly haul to date.
#WinRed total fundraising numbers continue to stairstep – raising about half of Q1 2020 in just April alone: $59.755M.
In the first full month of quarantine, GOP campaigns turned to a heavily online-based fundraising game – and GOP enthusiasm and energy are clearly high.
— WinRed (@WINRED) May 15, 2020
The reliance on online fundraising has only grown during the coronavirus, which has forced both parties to scrap in-person fundraising efforts. Some candidates in down ballot races have hit pause on their online fundraising efforts and pivoted to using their voter outreach to raise money for local charities.
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“What is encouraging to me is not just seeing things coming back, but that we’re also seeing growth,” ActBlue Executive Director Erin Hill told The Washington Post, which was the first outlet to report on the Democratic group’s haul. “This is not a new moment that the movement is adapting to. Candidates have been building robust, resilient small-dollar online communities for years now, over several elections.”
ActBlue is anticipating raising $3 billion for the 2020 cycle, while WinRed is projecting a $400 million haul in its first full year since its founding, according to the Post.
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