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About a third of the money arrived during the last three months
of the year, with more than $20 million donated on Dec. 31
alone, the group said.
Small-dollar donations are crucial to Democrats vying for their
party's nomination to run against Republican Donald Trump in
November, many of whom have sworn off fundraising from
deep-pocketed political action committees in favor of grassroots
support. ActBlue, founded in 2004, streamlines the donation
process by enabling supporters to give with a click of a mouse
or via mobile phones and tablets.
The organization would not say how much of the $1.05 billion
raised in 2019 was for presidential campaigns, but executive
director Erin Hill said the amount was indicative of support for
Democratic causes.
"Based on what we saw last year, the eventual Democratic nominee
will have an army of grassroots donors behind them," Hill said
in a press release.
Six million donors used the service to contribute to more than
13,000 campaigns in 2019, the organization said, some making
multiple contributions. The average donation was for $30.50. By
comparison, during the last presidential cycle in 2016, the
organization collected about $207 million for about 3,600
campaigns, with an average donation of $33.13.
ActBlue is not the only organization to funnel online political
donations to campaigns. WinRed, which was established last year
to raise money for Republican and conservative causes, said on
Monday that it had raised $101 million in its first 190 days,
about $70 million of it in the final three months of 2019.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; editing by Grant McCool)
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