ActBlue Charities Inc.[1] is an American
political action committee and fundraising platform established serving left-leaning and
Democratic nonprofits and politicians.[2] Its Republican counterpart is
WinRed.
Activities
ActBlue does not endorse individual candidates.[3] The organization is open to Democratic campaigns, candidates, committees, and progressive
501(c)4 organizations. Groups that use ActBlue pay a 3.95% credit card processing fee. As a nonprofit, ActBlue runs its own, separate fundraising program and accepts tips on contributions to pay for its expenses.[4][5][6]
ActBlue was founded in 2004 by Benjamin Rahn and Matt DeBergalis.[7] Rahn and DeBergalis were joined in 2005 by
Jonathan Zucker and Erin Hill. Zucker took over as Executive Director in 2007;[8] he was replaced by Hill in 2009. In 2023, Regina Wallace-Jones replaced Hill as Executive Director.[9]
In February 2016, ActBlue launched AB Charities, an arm of the organization that makes ActBlue's fundraising tools available to nonprofits.[10] Both the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nominees,
Hillary Clinton and
Joe Biden, used ActBlue during their primary and general election campaigns.[11][12]Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 primary campaigns also used ActBlue for fundraising.[13]
Federal Election Commission reporting
ActBlue reports to the
Federal Election Commission all contributors to Federal campaigns, regardless of the amount.[14] When a candidate for a Federal election raises money through ActBlue, ActBlue serves as a conduit for election law purposes.[15][16] All conduit contributions are itemized and reported. By contrast, there is a $200 threshold for reporting individuals who contribute directly to a candidate committee. Many small donors, whose names would ordinarily be shielded, are thus exposed to the public.[17]
Fundraising
ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007.[18] In the 2005-2006 campaign, the site raised $17 million for 1500 Democratic candidates, with $15.5 million going to congressional campaigns. By August 2007, the site had raised $25.5 million.[19]
In 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for a wide variety of campaigns.[22]The Daily Beast notes that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million, and that "According to the organization, that total came from 3.3 million unique donors and was dispersed to almost 9,000 Democratic campaigns and organizations, with $246 million coming in the second quarter alone."[23]
In 2020, several fundraising records were broken. In the week following the
murder of George Floyd, on May 31, over $19 million was raised, the highest single-day total so far that year. On June 1, that yearly record was again broken with $20 million in donations. Over half of donations in the week following the killing went to charitable (non-political) causes, including one ActBlue page devoted to a
bail fund which raised over $1.5 million from over 20,000 donors.[24] In the day following
the death of Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over $30 million was donated through ActBlue, again breaking the single-day fundraising record.[25]
In 2023, ActBlue announced that it was laying off roughly 17 percent of its staff as part of what the group said was a "restructuring" that would help ensure "long-term financial sustainability."
ActBlue said the staff reductions would primarily impact the non-technical sector, allowing the organization to hire "technical and specialized roles."[27]
Opposing organizations
In 2019, the
Republican Party created
WinRed to similarly support Republican organizations and causes with small-donor fundraising.[28]
^"What happens to my money when I donate?".
Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020. As required by federal law, ActBlue reports and itemizes (that means list the donor name & information) for every single federal donation that comes through our platform, including donations under $200.