How Bernie Sanders Raised $1.3 Million in Four Hours
The Vermont senator's outsider campaign is powered by grassroots support—and near-instantaneous mobile donations.
by Ben Brody
Bernie Sanders may rail against Wall Street, but like the savviest trader his presidential campaign has a talent for making millions off a moment.
The Vermont senator, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, pulled in $1.3 million—much of it coming in from cell phone donations—in the four hours after sending an e-mail fundraising plea during Tuesday night's debate.
"We spiked [at] over 75 percent of our contributions coming in via mobile," said Nate Thames, executive director of technical services for ActBlue, a political action committee that powers Sanders's digital fundraising efforts and has worked with Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Usually, about 30 percent of people giving on ActBlue donate using a mobile device. Many those giving through ActBlue on Tuesday, Thames said, donated under $10.
“We spiked [at] over 75 percent of our contributions coming in via mobile.”
Nate Thames, executive director of technical services for ActBlue
ActBlue was taking donations from about 800 people per hour on Tuesday evening, a fairly standard pace. At one point, though, after Sanders told the media to focus on issues and knock off its fascination with Clinton's e-mail usage as secretary of state, his campaign blasted out a fundraising appeal quoting the exchange.
"We went from that level to over 10,000 contributions an hour in the space of just a few minutes," Thames said.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-10-14/how-bernie-sanders-raised-1-3-million-in-four-hours