The first quarter of the 2011-12 election cycle is on the books, and it’s a doozy. We saw a massive uptick in contributions relative to previous cycles, driven by the backlash against Gov. Walker’s union-busting in Wisconsin. That drove a precipitous drop in the average contribution size relative to 2009, which was made starker by a higher-than-usual contribution size in 2009 thanks to inaugural events. All in all, the trends are exactly what we want to see: more money, coming from more people and going to more Democrats.
| Number of contributions | 180,547 |
|---|---|
| Total raised | $8,715,611.77 |
| Average Contribution size | $48.27 |
| Committees receiving money | 881 |
| Fundraising pages receiving money | 974 |
| Pages created | 1,029 |
And here’s how those numbers stack up to the last few cycles. Remember that we offer 2007 as a benchmark for a pre-presidential off-year and 2009 to illustrate cycle over cycle growth:
| Q1 2007 | Q1 2009 | Q1 2011 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | 31,441 | 24,361 | 180,547 | 641% |
| Volume ($) | $3,141,038.27 | $5,343,772.70 | $8,715,611.77 | 63% |
| Mean Donation | $99.90 | $219.36 | $48.27 | -78% |
| Committees | 235 | 651 | 881 | 35% |
| Pages Created | 346 | 1,026 | 1,029 | .3% |
| Pages w/ Money | 203 | 684 | 974 | 13% |
And here are the five top committees, ranked by number of donors, for Q1 2011.
| Name | Race | Donors | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCCC | Organization | 61,542 | $691,584 |
| Democracy for America | Organization | 44,767 | $503,841 |
| Democratic Party of Wisconsin | Organization | 43,595 | $1,099,087 |
| Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee | Organization | 30,726 | $768,067 |
| PCCC Recall Committee | Organization | 25,481 | $267,919 |
Here, as everywhere else this quarter, we see organizations dominating the field as political campaigns have yet to ramp up. Those organizations, in turn, are laying the groundwork that will make them valuable allies when the horse race gets underway in earnest.
