2012 Numbers: Q2 Roundup
Here’s the short version: $27 million sent to Democrats via ActBlue with an average donation under $50. That’s incredible. To put it in perspective, we tripled the amount of money we sent over the same period in 2011, and quadrupled the number of donations. We sent that money to twice as many campaigns. So when we talk about grassroots power, we’re talking 8 figures.
| Number of contributions | 582,951 |
|---|---|
| Total raised | $27,186,771.78 |
| Average Contribution size | $46.64 |
| Committees receiving money | 2,476 |
A for-profit company would love to take these numbers to their shareholders. Since we’re a non-profit, we’re bringing them to you. While 2012 is a presidential election year and that pushes the numbers upward, you can glance at our 2008 numbers to see how much we’ve grown over the interim.
| Q2 2008 | Q2 2011 | Q2 2012 | Change | |
| Contributions | 61,617 | 142,027 | 582,951 | 310% |
| Volume ($) | $13,423,736.96 | $9,110,160.70 | $27,186,771.78 | 198% |
| Mean Donation | $217.86 | $64.14 | $46.64 | -27% |
| Committees | 1,390 | 1,106 | 2,476 | 124% |
Here are the five top committees, by number of donors, for Q2 2012.
| Name | Race | Donors | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCCC | Party Committee | 182,345 | $5,343,811 |
| Tom Barrett | WI-Gov | 26,827 | $2,010,889 |
| DSCC | Party Committee | 46,091 | $1,875,056 |
| Democratic Party of Wisconsin | Party Committee | 45,048 | $1,105,153 |
| PCCC | Organization | 24,270 | $244,764 |
Today is August 12, 2012 and my Fundraising Page, Progressives Worth Supporting, sent a total of $3200 spread to about 40 candidates listed. I’m grateful and a little surprised that a few others have used the page since it was started.
But it takes me to the bundling question earlier. I contributed earlier as a result of Daily Kos (and generally reinforce their objects). I use Amex to pay which is sometimes a problem. I contributed to Obama’s campaign in 2008 and other races closer to home. Not so oddly, many of the campaigns I follow use Act Blue. So I thought why don’t I in effect bundle myself. So I do.
Obviously Act Blue is an effective tool, but instead of some fathead Dixiecan currying favor, I can skip the flesh pressing and get to it. The truth is that there are a lot of bundlers within this big mother bundler and it works.
It lets me keep up with my contributions as with everyone. I may max out a very small number of candidates, so it helps that I get that information. I tend to contribute based on when and what I can, but I also don’t have any objection to the occasional money bomb although the money may be more driblet individually.
I believe it matters. Although this note is not strictly OT.