Small-dollar donors shattered expectations in Q1 2025, sending a powerful message: grassroots donors will not back down.
In the face of persistent, bad-faith attacks on grassroots donors and small-dollar fundraising, grassroots donors are standing strong. In fact, they’re doing more than standing strong — they’re building momentum in the grassroots donor ecosystem that ActBlue helps to power.
In the first quarter of 2025, Democrats raised $400.7 million through ActBlue — surpassing the performance of Q1 2023 and even Q1 2021, which followed the election of President Biden and a Democratic trifecta. This isn’t just a number — it’s a statement that voters are fed up with the chaos and lies of Trump and the GOP.
Small-dollar donors are sending a clear message: they are fighting back. From coast to coast, supporters are showing up for Democratic and progressive values, candidates, and causes — proving once again that people-powered movements are here to stay.
Throughout the quarter, sitewide fundraising steadily built from Inauguration Day through March, culminating in a series of standout moments that captured donor attention and energy:
- February 28: Fundraising surged following the Oval Office meeting with President Zelensky, demonstrating grassroots support for diplomacy and democratic alliances.
- March 4–5: The announcement and implementation of new tariffs on Canada and Mexico drove a spike in donations, signaling donor concern over economic policy shifts.
- Week of March 24: A major spike in grassroots giving followed “Signal Gate” — when revelations surfaced about the Secretary of Defense and other top officials using insecure messaging apps for sensitive communications. Democratic donors were fired up, and responded by fueling the movement to hold them accountable.
These surges fell outside the typical end-of-month and end-of-quarter peaks, showing just how engaged and active small-dollar donors are to the stakes ahead. From special elections to gubernatorial contests and congressional battlegrounds, grassroots energy flowed where it was needed most.
Despite ongoing, coordinated efforts to undermine small-dollar giving and the critical role it plays in our democracy, the first quarter of 2025 makes one thing clear: grassroots donors are undeterred. And neither are we. ActBlue has powered tens of millions of grassroots donors over our 20+ year history and remains the leader in reliability, transparency, accountability and fraud detection efforts.
