ActBlue[1] is an American Democratic Partypolitical action committee (PAC) and fundraising platform founded in 2004. ActBlue is a major part of the Democratic Party's fundraising infrastructure.[2][3] It is focused on mobilizing small-dollar donors and, as of June 2024, had raised $13.7 billion for Democratic candidates and causes since it was established.[citation needed] ActBlue is organized as a PAC, but it serves as a conduit for processing individual contributions made through the platform. Under federal law, these contributions are made by individuals and are not considered PAC donations.
History
ActBlue was founded[4] 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;[5] he was replaced by Hill in 2009. In 2023, Regina Wallace-Jones replaced Hill as president and CEO of ActBlue.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] This strategy would later be replicated by other Democratic political figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.[9]
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."[11]
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."[2]
Organization
ActBlue does not endorse individual candidates.[12] 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.[citation needed]
Groups that use ActBlue pay a 3.95% credit card processing fee.[13] As a nonprofit, ActBlue runs its own separate fundraising program and accepts tips on contributions to pay for its expenses.[14]
ActBlue says that it reports all contributions processed to federal campaigns to the Federal Election Commission, regardless of the amount.[15] When a candidate for a federal election raises money through ActBlue, ActBlue serves as a conduit for election law purposes.[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.[citation needed]
Fundraising
ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007.[17] 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.[18]
In 2016, ActBlue took in nearly $800 million in small-dollar donations.[19]
In the 2018 midterm elections, Democratic candidates fundraised $1.6 billion through ActBlue's platform.[20]
In 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for Democratic campaigns.[21]The Daily Beast noted that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million.[22]
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.[23] 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.[24]
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.[26] Over the first weekend, they raised $100 million from 1.1 million donors.[27]
Fraud allegations
In 2024, Republican public officials in several states launched probes into ActBlue over allegations of donor fraud,[28] including Wyoming Secretary of StateChuck Gray and Virginia Attorney GeneralJason Miyares.[29][30] ActBlue called Miyares' investigation a "partisan political attack and scare tactic."[31] ActBlue had previously been the target of fraud accusations by political activists, though experts have expressed doubt about the veracity of these claims.[32][31][33][34]
Republican members of Congress have also expressed concerns that ActBlue was not verifying donors' credit card information using Card Verification Value (CVV) codes.[35] 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.[32][36] 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.[29][37]
^"What happens to my money when I donate?". ActBlue Support. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2024. 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.
