Clinton touts success in small-donor fundraising
Democratic candidate on track to hit $45 million
WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign says it is on track to report that it has raised more than $45 million since its launch in mid-April, with the vast majority of those donating giving less than $100.
While Clinton’s campaign on Wednesday touted its success with such small-dollar donors, the leading Democrat in the 2016 race also pulled in a large chunk of campaign cash from donors who are giving her the maximum allowed by law.
In all, Clinton’s campaign said, the amount is set to best the previous record of primary money raised in a candidate’s first quarter, set by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2011 at $41.9 million.
“Thank you so much for being part of this campaign. I’m grateful for all you’ve done and excited for what comes next,” Clinton wrote in a handwritten message, a photo of which was posted on Twitter.
The campaign did not release the total number of contributions or how many donors gave to Clinton’s campaign, all details it must eventually disclose. But John Podesta, the campaign’s chairman, said on Twitter that 91 per cent of all donations to the campaign were $100 or less.
“Many people doubted whether we could build an organization powered by so many grassroots supporters,” campaign manager Robby Mook wrote in an email to supporters. “Today’s announcement proves them wrong.”
Left unsaid was how much the campaign has raised from donors asked to give the legal maximum of $2,700. In recent weeks, Clinton has travelled the country raising money at celebrity-studded events, exclusive gatherings in Hollywood estates and inside Manhattan penthouses.
Clinton has raised at least $19.5 million at 61 such fundraisers, an amount that makes up at least 43 per cent of her fundraising total. That percentage is sure to be even higher, because The Associated Press used the most conservative ticket prices to her events to calculate the total raised at each.
The Clinton campaign’s focus on small-dollar donors isn’t unexpected. One of Clinton’s top challengers in the democratic camp, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has aggressively courted the party’s most liberal grassroots voters by running largely on a platform of reducing income inequality.
During her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton raised $36 million in the first quarter. At that time, she collected cheques for both the primary contest and general election, meaning donors could give up to $5,400. That general election money never became available to her.
This time, her campaign has set a goal of raising $100 million in primary money by the end of the year and decided to fundraise only for the primary, meaning contributors can give no more than $2,700. If she becomes the Democratic nominee, she can return to those donors and ask for another $2,700.