Is ActBlue the official Bernie Sanders Campaign, or a 3rd party?

[99th_Monkey]

It presented itself as THE way to donate to Bernie Sanders, sporting the official Sanders campaign logo.

Does anyone know about ActBlue? if it's legit ..

[elleng]

1. It's legit,

many Dems use it for processing contributions, even tho it takes a cut.

[99th_Monkey]

2. It's the "they take a cut" part that is deceptive IMHO

they give me a chance to donate to them, but i declined, or so i thought.

[sabrina 1]

10. I donated through them and it worked fine. They give you an option to

to add a tip for their organization, which I did. But other than that, which is voluntary there is no cut, or shouldn't be.

[marym625]

4. They don't take a cut

You can "tip" them if you so desire. But whatever you direct to a candidate, goes to the candidate

[99th_Monkey]

8. Good to know

It was rather frustrating however .. I was simply looking for the
Sanders for Prez campaign in Portland ... and the only option was
to give money, then after giving 50$ I still couldn't find any info
on local contacts to start building his campaign here. nada.

[marym625]

3. They don't take a cut

Every dime you give goes to the candidate. You can tip them if you want. They are a great organization

Here's a link to Omaha Steve's post with the DU Bernie donation group on ACT BLUE

Omaha Steve's ACT BLUE DU post

And here's a link to the "about ACT BLUE" which tells you they don't charge. They've been around for a decade and are legitimate

About ACT BLUE

And we make it free for campaigns and organizations — no tricks or add-ons. And with a top-notch tech team, our tools are always dependable, and we’re always working to upgrade them.

[Omaha Steve]

5. There is NO cut

Only the charge from credit card company is deferred. Bernie's own site uses Act Blue when you click contribute: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/lets-go-bernie?refcode=homepage_topright


Donate to DU for Bernie at Act Blue here: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/duforbernie

Up to the moment info on the donor # and $ # is here: https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/39795

New Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.actblue.com%2Fcontribute%2Fpage%2Fduforbernie%3Frefcode%3Dpromote-share%23.VUXiK8m85wQ.facebook

Tweet: https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=check+out+our+new+%40ActBlue+page+%27Democratic+Underground++for+Bernie%27.+https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.actblue.com%2Fcontribute%2Fpage%2Fduforbernie%3Frefcode%3Dpromote-share%23.VUXo8Ohnyn0.twitter



Bernie's campaign uses Act Blue too. This just keeps a total of $ donated by DUers and friends.

All the donated $ to Bernie goes to Bernie except for the actual charge card fee by law: http://support.actblue.com/faq#q15

Fees all vendors pay to use your credit card from a vendors perspective: http://paysimple.com/credit_card_rates_explained.html

IF you give a tip it goes to Act Blue, the most successful Democratic $ raising PAC for their in house expenses like rent, payroll, IT, etc.

NYT: How ActBlue Became a Powerful Force in Fund-Raising: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/upshot/how-actblue-became-a-powerful-force-in-fund-raising.html?abt=0002&abg=1

Tote board and donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/duforbernie

Click here to compare our fund raising for Bernie compared to others: https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/39795

It takes a few minutes for the tote board to show your donation on the now live goal o meter just below.

[marym625]

6. Thank you!

[SusanCalvin]

7. Thanks so much for the info!

[Cheese Sandwich]

9. It's probably more secure and cost effective than the campaign hiring extra IT staff...

A bigger campaign would probably use a similar service and integrate it into their campaign site to make it more invisible to the contributor, but credit card processing is likely still done by a service like ActBlue.

When you go to BernieSanders.com and click on contribute it does take you to secure.actblue.com. So that part seems pretty official.

[bmyrab]

11. I just used Act Blue to donate to Sanders and I'm so sorry I did

I just used Act Blue to donate to Sanders and I'm so sorry I did. Half of it was redirected to something called Democracy for America. I don't know what that is and I did NOT intend to donate to it. I've written to Act Blue via email and their website demanding an explanation and a refund so I can donate the intended amount to Bernie. Beware of Act Blue.

Does anyone know if Democracy for America is a front group for the DNC? I would never knowingly donate to the DNC.

> Your contribution from 29 December 2015
> Reference #: AB20970366
>
> Democracy for America $12.50
> Bernie Sanders $12.50
> Total: $25.00

[99th_Monkey]

12. Democracy For America recently endorsed Bernie Sanders

They didn't endorse anyone for POTUS in 2008 because no one got a super-majority of votes cast but this year Bernie got a whopping 87.9%!!!.

"DFA, which was started by backers of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential bid, has grown into a well-regarded grassroots political and issue-advocacy organization with active groups in states across the country and a track record of backing progressive candidates at the local, state and federal levels. Early in the 2016 race, the group urged Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to seek the Democratic nomination. This month, it conducted a national poll of members that concluded December 15. Sanders won 87.9 percent of the 271,527 votes cast in a contest where an endorsement could only be secured with a super-majority (66.67 percent or more) of all the votes cast. Clinton (who is backed by Howard Dean) took 10.3 percent, while 1.1. percent backed Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

The level of support for Sanders was unprecedented. When the 11-year-old group held a similar vote on whether to endorse in the 2008 presidential race, no candidate cleared the super-majority hurdle. This year however, 87.9 percent of Democracy for America members voted for Sanders in a national poll.

...snip...

Chamberlain explained that “we’ll immediately start organizing on behalf of Bernie in key primary states, from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada to nearly a dozen states voting on Super Tuesday.
http://www.thenation.com/article/democracy-for-america-communications-workers-union-endorse-bernie-sanders/

[bmyrab]

13. Well thanks for that info

I still want to know how they got half of my donation to Bernie without my permission.

[99th_Monkey]

14. I totally agree with you

I thought about editing my post in fact, just to say that.

I'm unclear myself about the relationship between ActBlue and DFA ... and how DFA ended
up getting a chunk of what you donated though ActBlue.

I have donated via ActBlue several times, and was merely asked if I would be willing to donate
a "Tip" to ActBlue, and I always opted not to, and as far as I know all my money went directly
to Bernie.

Also, on DU OmahaSteve acts as coordinator for ActBlue donations via DU, so Bernie's campaign
knows donors are also DU members, which is kinda cool.

[lived in a bubble]

15. Bernie's address for donations last fall (2015)

BERNIE 2016
PO BOX 905
BURLINGTON VT 05402-9961

[Rhiannon12866]

16. You might want to check out this thread:

DU has had several successful fundraising efforts. And welcome to DU!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1280&pid=9963

[johnboy12]

17. actblue with endcitizensunited is phoney

endcitizensunited & actblue were in one email and endcitizensunited is a phoney site. The real one is movetoamend.org. So I suspect actblue is also phoney. Hope this helps.