In tune with the moment. In the third quarter of 2022, small-dollar donors continued driving strong support for causes and campaigns across the country ahead of the midterm elections. More than 2.6 million unique donors gave over 14 million contributions, totaling $646 million to 16,567 unique campaigns, committees, and organizations, with an average contribution size of $45.68.
This quarter’s numbers demonstrate the continued work of causes and campaigns around the nation in harnessing the power of small-dollar donors. More campaigns and organizations used ActBlue to fundraise in Q3 than in any previous quarter. And with even more diverse candidates building people-powered campaigns, this will be another historic year for representation.
Continued engagement. For example, two of the largest days this quarter for small-dollar contributions were on September 14 and 15, when Senate Republicans introduced a bill to enact a nationwide abortion ban. And donors aren’t just giving at the federal level — this quarter, one in two donors gave at least one donation to candidates and groups at the state or local level, or to nonprofits.
Building long-lasting momentum. What is particularly noteworthy is that this has been a strong cycle from the start — cycle to date, donors have given more than twice as many contributions and dollars to causes and campaigns around the country than what we saw during the historic 2018 cycle, when donors were extremely engaged following Trump’s election.
A closer look. Read on to learn more about ActBlue’s fundraising trends during the third quarter of 2022, and dive in to see how small-dollar donors continue powering various causes and campaigns.
TOPLINE NUMBERS
| Q3 ’18 | Q3 ’20 | Q3 ’22 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | 7,782,935 | 31,411,055 | 14,138,147 |
| Total Amount | $385,179,257 | $1,478,597,846 | $645,833,255 |
| Average Contribution Size | $49.49 | $47.07 | $45.68 |
| Unique Donors | 2,002,106 | 6,783,128 | 2,668,946 |
| Unique Campaigns, Committees, and Organizations | 9,335 | 14,223 | 16,567 |
State and Local
Action starts at home. Small-dollar donors continued supporting competitive state and local races and causes. To safeguard and defend reproductive freedoms, voting rights, protect democracy, and more, small-dollar donors contributed more than twice as many dollars to state legislative races around the country compared to this period in 2018.
Small-dollar donors also gave more than triple the number of contributions and dollars to in-cycle Democratic secretary of state candidates, as compared to the third quarter of 2018. Our data show strong support for gubernatorial candidates, too. Donors doubled the number of dollars raised for in-cycle gubernatorial candidates, compared to the same time period in 2018.
U.S. House and Senate
Donating up and down the ballot. In the third quarter, ahead of the November midterm election, donors continued powering candidates working to hold the Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. Candidates for U.S. Senate raised more than double the number of contributions compared to this same period in the last midterm cycle in 2018.
Nonprofit
Nonprofits and donors are driving change. Organizations have been working hard to protect reproductive freedoms, LGBTQIA2S+ rights, democratic norms, and other areas under attack from the right. Donors gave twice as many dollars and contributions to nonprofits this quarter compared to Q3 2018. Furthermore, over triple the number of causes and organizations are receiving small-dollar donor support this quarter compared to the same period in 2018.
Our MICO team — Movement, Issue, and Charitable Organizations (MICO) — continues to serve nonprofits by supporting small-dollar programs to engage the power of small-dollar donors.
CYCLE-TO-CYCLE COMPARISON
| 2018 cycle through Q3 ’18 | 2020 cycle through Q3 ’20 | 2022 cycle through Q3 ’22 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributions | 33,665,295 | 101,621,757 | 70,506,978 |
| Total Amount | $1,297,265,561 | $3,773,432,885 | $2,792,861,227 |
| Average Contribution Size | $38.53 | $37.13 | $39.61 |
| Unique Donors | 4,371,761 | 13,632,813 | 6,715,120 |
| Unique Campaigns, Committees, and Organizations | 14,039 | 21,229 | 26,244 |
THE ACTBLUE EDGE
ActBlue makes it easy to take action to support the causes and campaigns donors care about. With innovative tools to build grassroots fundraising programs and teams in place to help organizers maximize those tools, ActBlue remains a trusted tool for small-dollar donors and causes and campaigns to drive change.
| Q3 ’18 | Q3 ’20 | Q3 ’22 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % of Contributions made with a Saved Payment Method or Digital Wallet Option | 54.8% | 68.7% | 70.7% |
| % of Contributions made via a Mobile Device | 45.6% | 56.9% | 58.5% |
