Small-dollar donors smashed preconceptions of sleepy summer fundraising and made August the biggest month in ActBlue’s history by total dollars raised, number of contributions, and number of groups fundraising. More than 4 million unique donors gave 10,654,586 contributions on ActBlue in August, for a total of $485,400,545. With nearly half a billion dollars raised in one month, small-dollar donors also hit a major milestone on August 31: $3 billion raised on ActBlue in the 2019-2020 election cycle.
It takes an incredible amount of people power to reach $3 billion in less than two years — 12,495,647 unique donors with an average contribution size of $34.68, to be exact! 8.6 million of those donors gave for the first time ever this cycle.
It took nearly a year to reach the first billion on December 23, 2019. After hitting $2 billion for the cycle in less than six months on June 4, 2020, the final billion dollars was raised in 88 days. During that final stretch, Black activists and Black-led organizations led much of the nonprofit fundraising, and political campaigns ramped up their fundraising ahead of November’s elections.
This momentum is unstoppable: More people are joining the small-dollar donor movement and investing in the campaigns and causes they believe in every day.
- One million donors gave for the first time in August.
- Contributions and dollars to congressional candidates doubled in August 2020 compared to August 2018.
- As of the end of August, more than three times as many unique donors and first-time donors have given during the 2020 election cycle compared to the same time in the 2018 election cycle.
- Grassroots donors also reached $6 billion raised in ActBlue’s lifetime earlier in August.
TOPLINE NUMBERS
| Aug ’16 | Aug ’18 | Aug ’20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | 1,030,979 | 2,537,230 | 10,654,586 |
| Total Amount | $40,131,300 | $117,738,770 | $485,400,545 |
| Average Contribution Size | $38.93 | $46.40 | $45.56 |
| Unique Donors | 465,450 | 1,087,742 | 4,038,806 |
| Unique Campaigns, Committees, and Organizations |
3,111 | 7,567 | 11,577 |
CYCLE-TO-CYCLE COMPARISON
| 2016 cycle through Aug ‘16 | 2018 cycle through Aug ’18 | 2020 cycle through Aug ’20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | 17,939,018 | 30,521,114 | 87,079,942 |
| Total Amount | $576,769,337 | $1,113,153,932 | $3,019,731,230 |
| Average Contribution Size | $32.15 | $36.47 | $34.68 |
| Unique Donors | 3,114,769 | 4,031,072 | 12,495,647 |
| Unique Campaigns, Committees, and Organizations |
5,953 | 13,458 | 20,239 |
ACTBLUE EXPRESS
| Aug ’16 | Aug ’18 | Aug ’20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| New ActBlue Express Users | 50,464 | 149,935 | 800,441 |
PAYMENT METHODS
| Aug ’16 | Aug ‘18 | Aug ’20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % of Contributions via Mobile | 34.5% | 45.6% | 58.8% |
| % of Contributions via PayPal™ | 9.1% | 10.8% | 22.2% |
| % of Contributions via Apple Pay® | Not Offered | 3.4% | 8.3% |
RECURRING CONTRIBUTIONS
| Aug ‘16 | Aug ’18 | Aug ‘20 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Recurring Volume | $9,852,369 | $19,596,952 | $41,057,911 |
| % of Total Volume | 24.6% | 16.8% | 8.5% |
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