ActBlue

History

ActBlue was founded in 2004 by Benjamin Rahn and Matt DeBergalis. Rahn and DeBergalis were joined in 2005 by Jonathan Zucker and Erin Hill. Zucker took over as executive director in 2007; he was replaced by Hill in 2009. In 2023, Regina Wallace-Jones replaced Hill as president and CEO of ActBlue.

Both the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, used ActBlue during their primary and general election campaigns. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 primary campaigns also used ActBlue for fundraising. Sanders' use of ActBlue was particularly notable as it represented the first time a major Democratic presidential candidate eschewed money from super PACs in favor of grassroots fundraising. This strategy would later be replicated by other Democratic political figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, all the candidates used ActBlue.

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".

In December 2024, 142 consultants, campaign staff, nonprofit staff, technology vendors, donor organizers, donors, and academics signed a letter to ActBlue saying the organization needed to do a "better job" of protecting Democratic contributors from being "exploited".

Organization

ActBlue does not endorse individual candidates. Use of the platform is open to Democratic and progressive campaigns, candidates, committees, and 501(c)4 organizations. 501(c)3 organizations are able to use the platform through ActBlue Charities.

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.

Campaign donation reporting

ActBlue reports the donors' names and amounts for all contributions processed to federal campaigns to the Federal Election Commission, regardless of the amount. This information is listed on the Internet. In contrast, small donors who contribute up to $200 directly to a federal campaign are not automatically reported to the FEC.

In 2024, the Institute for Free Speech sued the FEC over the discrepancy whereby small donors utilizing conduits ActBlue or WinRed are automatically made public but same-sized direct donations are not.

Fundraising

ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007. 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.

In 2016, ActBlue took in nearly $800 million in small-dollar donations.

In the 2018 midterm elections, Democratic candidates fundraised $1.6 billion through ActBlue's platform.

In 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for Democratic campaigns. The Daily Beast noted that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million.

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 all donations in the following week 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. In the day following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over $70 million was donated through ActBlue, again breaking the single-day fundraising record.

In 2022, ActBlue brought in $20.6 million on the day the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

In the first 24 hours following the launch of Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, small-dollar and many first-time donors raised $81 million through ActBlue, making it the biggest 24 hour period ever on the platform for dollars raised sitewide. Over the first weekend, they raised $100 million from 1.1 million donors.

Fraud allegations

In 2024, Republican public officials in several states launched probes into ActBlue over allegations of donor fraud, including Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. ActBlue called Miyares's investigation a "partisan political attack and scare tactic". ActBlue had previously been the target of fraud accusations by political activists, though experts in campaign finance law have expressed doubt about the veracity of these claims.

Republican members of Congress have also expressed concerns that ActBlue was not verifying donor credit card information using Card Verification Value (CVV) codes. A spokesperson for ActBlue said in August 2024 that they had begun expanding CVV verification in 2023 and were now requiring it for all new credit card donations. ActBlue lobbied against a Republican-backed bill introduced in September 2024 that would require CVV codes for political donations and prohibit contributions via gift cards or prepaid cards.

In April 2025, President Trump issued a presidential memorandum "to crack down" on alleged illegal straw donor and foreign contributions in American elections, following reports and congressional investigations regarding potentially unlawful activities through ActBlue and other online fundraising platforms. The claim in Trump's executive order that ActBlue permits such donations is unsubstantiated. The House investigation cited by the executive order failed to note that ActBlue had discovered and returned many of the alleged illegal transactions, and ActBlue has in the meantime added further controls.

References

References

1. (February 17, 2023). "Federal Election Commission: Committee Profiles, ActBlue".
2. (18 December 2024). "ActBlue Taking Heat From Practitioners As Campaign Fundraising Faces Greater Scrutiny". Campaigns & Elections.
3. Schneider, Elena. (October 10, 2020). "How ActBlue has transformed Democratic politics". Politico.
4. (27 March 2025). "‘Something stinks’: Elon Musk, congressional Republicans target Democrats’ main fundraising machine {{!}} CNN Politics". CNN.
5. Wayne, Leslie. (November 29, 2007). "A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online". [[The New York Times]].
6. McCarthy, Aoife. (December 3, 2007). "Suite Talk: Taking care of business". [[Politico]].
7. Chery, Samantha. (January 19, 2023). "Political fundraising platform ActBlue names its first Black female CEO". [[The Washington Post]].
8. (2 August 2019). "Detailed Maps of the Donors Powering the 2020 Democratic Campaigns".
9. Halper, Evan. (24 March 2016). "Bernie Sanders' campaign legacy could be how he raises money from so many people".
10. Stewart, Emily. (29 January 2019). "Democrats weigh whether Wall Street money is still allowed in 2020".
11. Levine, Carrie. (2019-04-17). "Why Democrats are falling over themselves to find small-dollar donors".
12. Greenwood, Max. (April 3, 2023). "Democratic fundraiser ActBlue lays off portion of staff".
13. (March 5, 2025). "ActBlue, the Democratic Fund-Raising Powerhouse, Faces Internal Chaos". The New York Times.
14. Willis, Derek. (October 9, 2014). "How ActBlue Became a Powerful Force in Fund-Raising". The New York Times.
15. "ActBlue Charities".
16. "ActBlue Civics".
17. Kroll, Andy. "The $2 Billion Powerhouse Behind Jon Ossoff".
18. Pindell, James. (May 15, 2017). "How a Somerville nonprofit revolutionized American politics".
19. "What happens to my money when I donate?".
20. Primo, David M.. (August 18, 2019). "Personal Data About Small-Donor Democrats Is All Over the Internet". New York Times.
21. Lee, Michelle Ye Hee. (September 10, 2019). "Trump's critics are targeting his donors, sparking fears of a backlash against disclosure". Washtington Post.
22. (July 11, 2024). "Small-dollar donors sue FEC over disclosure rules". www.courthousenews.com.
23. Mosk, Matthew. (March 11, 2007). "Donations Pooled Online Are Getting Candidates' Attention". The Washington Post.
24. "Internet-based PAC driving Democratic push – The Boston Globe".
25. Stewart, Emily. (January 29, 2019). "Democrats weigh whether Wall Street money is still allowed in 2020".
26. Isenstadt, Alex. (June 23, 2019). "GOP to launch new fundraising site as Dems crush the online money game".
27. (March 9, 2020). "How the Trump Campaign Took Over the G.O.P.".
28. Gideon, Resnick. (July 17, 2019). "ActBlue Has Brought in a Whopping $420 Million This Year".
29. Goldmacher, Shane. (June 1, 2020). "Protests Spur Surge in Donations, Giving ActBlue Its Biggest Day of the Year".
30. Schneider, Elena. (September 19, 2020). "Dem donors smash ActBlue's daily record after Ginsburg's death".
31. Navarro, Aaron. (July 20, 2022). "ActBlue processed more than half a billion dollars in three-month period – CBS News".
32. Goldmacher, Shane. (July 22, 2024). "Harris Raised $81 Million in First 24 Hours as Candidate".
33. Snelling, Grace. (July 22, 2024). "Yesterday was ActBlue's best day of 2024, and possibly of all time.".
34. Stanton, Andrew. (2 August 2024). "Republican AG Targets Democratic PAC Over Donor Information".
35. Lapowsky, Issie. (27 August 2024). "ActBlue is a Democratic fundraising juggernaut—and now conservatives are coming for it".
36. Mirshahi, Dean. (August 2, 2024). "ActBlue calls Miyares' investigation into fraud claims a 'partisan political attack and scare tactic'".
37. Lapowsky, Issie. (August 27, 2024). "ActBlue is a Democratic fundraising juggernaut—and now conservatives are coming for it".
38. Alamdari, Natalia. (May 7, 2024). "Letters warning of fraud, calls to form 'your militia': Election conspiracies spread in Nebraska".
39. Sears, Bryan P.. (June 20, 2023). "Expert: Claims of campaign finance irregularities are dubious".
40. Schorsch, Peter. (April 14, 2023). "Delegation for 4.14.23: Abortion — feeling ActBlue — juicy — school choice — thanks".
41. (August 14, 2024). "Are my contributions processed securely?".
42. Oprysko, Caitlin. (October 10, 2024). "ActBlue lobbies up amid GOP probes".
43. Giorno, Taylor. (2024-10-16). "Bottom Line: ActBlue lobbies up on online donation overhaul bill".
44. (April 24, 2025). "White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Investigates Unlawful "Straw Donor" and Foreign Contributions in American Elections".
45. (April 24, 2025). "Memorandum on Investigation into Unlawful "Straw Donor" and Foreign Contributions in American Elections".
46. Haake, Garrett. (April 24, 2025). "Trump takes executive action targeting ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform".
47. Haberman, Maggie. (2025-04-24). "Trump Directs Justice Dept. to Investigate ActBlue, Democrats’ Cash Engine". [[The New York Times]].
48. Ibrahim, Nur. (April 30, 2025). "Yes, Trump signed memorandum targeting Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue".
49. Isenstadt, Alex. (June 23, 2019). "GOP to Launch New Fundraising Site as Dems Crush the Online Money Game".