WASHINGTON ― The Donald Trump presidency is already proving itself a boon for Democratic Party fundraising. ActBlue, the online fundraising platform for Democratic Party candidates and causes, announced on Wednesday that it has processed more than 4 million contributions totaling $111 million in the first three months of 2017.
Both figures are more than four times higher than during the first three months of 2015, the last non-election year. They more closely resemble the level of fundraising seen only in presidential election years.
Along with the huge numbers of volunteers who have flooded state Democratic parties and previously staid state legislative elections, the steep climb in contributions is yet another sign that Trump’s election has led to a surge of political activism by Democrats and like-minded independents.
Total Contributed Via ActBlue In 1st Quarter Of Non-Election Years
In addition to the spike in the number of contributions and total money raised, the number of active groups raising money for candidates, parties and causes on ActBlue has doubled. Much of the increase in the number of groups raising money comes from the new organizations that have popped up since Trump’s election, according to ActBlue’s blog.
Traditional Democratic Party committees appear to dominate the site’s top contribution pages, however. On ActBlue’s list of top 10 contribution forms, four are connected to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and two are linked to the Democratic Governors Association.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose 2016 presidential campaign raised a record amount of small donor contributions through ActBlue, is the beneficiary of one of the top 10 contribution forms. Jon Ossoff, candidate in the upcoming special election to represent Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, having raised more than $8.3 million.
ActBlue’s express program has also helped streamline the fundraising process. The program enables users to save their credit card information to the site so they can contribute to candidates with just one click. Nearly 60 percent of the total money raised through the site in the first three months of 2017 came from express users.
This story has been updated to include Ossoff’s updated donation figures.