Sanders hauls in eye-popping $18.2M in first quarter

[Hassin Bin Sober]

Sanders hauls in eye-popping $18.2M in first quarter

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/436884-sanders-campaign-says-it-raised-182-million-in-first-quarter-of-2019

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign raised $18.2 million in the first quarter of 2019, his advisers said Tuesday, a massive sum that is likely to put the progressive firebrand among the top fundraisers of the early 2020 Democratic primary season.

Sanders, who announced his second bid for the White House in February, has already proven to be an adept fundraiser, raising nearly $6 million in the first 24 hours after launching his campaign. By the end of his first week on the trail, he had raised $10 million.

Sanders's campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said the senator's first-quarter fundraising total was powered by roughly 900,000 individual donations with an average contribution size of $20, a number that Sanders is likely to highlight given an increasing focus on grass-roots giving in Democratic politics.

Shakir said 525,000 individuals across all U.S. states and territories gave to the campaign. The average age for Sanders’s donors was under 39 years old, he said.

[floppyboo]

1. So great! And in just a month!

I was beginning to wonder if the campaign had released the numbers. Not mentioned on MSM this morning.
Do you have a link? Does the report say how many are going to be reoccurring donations? Distribution over states?

Clearly, Sanders is blowing his compatriots out of the water on this one!
And number of rallies, and attendees!

And members in candidate sub-groups here on DU!

Never mind that squeaky wheel!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Oops added link

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/436884-sanders-campaign-says-it-raised-182-million-in-first-quarter-of-2019

[WeekiWater]

2. And an overwhelming majority of them have already made second donations.

No doubt his base is electrified. They were last time as well.

[CentralMass]

12. I made my second before the deadline and may opt for reocurring

[WeekiWater]

13. Not sure exactly what you meant but I think I get it.

An overwhelming part of the dollar amount he received was from people donating twice. Please note, I don't see that as a negative. It shows how excited his base is.

[CentralMass]

16. There are FEC fundraising deadlines (for the month ?) that must be met.

So many of us donated for the first time when the campaign kicked off and have donated a second time prior to last months FEC fundraising deadline.

[David__77]

3. Somehow, that figure seems small given the money involved in campaigns.

I hope he gets all the resources - paid and unpaid - to wage a powerful campaign that assumes center stage.

[corbettkroehler]

7. 2020 Cycle Shows The Impact Of Removing PAC Money

I'm old enough to remember when $18 million in a quarter for a presidential primary was ENORMOUS. The fact that it feels small to you is emblematic of the damage of Citizens United and the neutering of McCain Feingold.

[jalan48]

4. Great to see! A man of the people!

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread Hassin Bin Sober.

[George II]

8. Some simple math:

"an average contribution size of $20, a number that Sanders is likely to highlight given an increasing focus on grass-roots giving* in Democratic politics."

900,000 "contributions" from 525,000 contributors. That's 1.7 contributions per person, raising the average contribution PER PERSON to almost $35. That's how they can advertise very low average contributions.

Last campaign he had a number of people who gave more than a THOUSAND contributions each, averaging about less than $5.00 for each "contribution". That really drops the so-called "average contribution" down quite a bit.

*People who give the maximum but do it in very very small increments are not "grass roots" contributors.

[floppyboo]

9. With the highest approval rating for 18-29 year olds

I'm going to guess that their bank accounts zero out more months than not, so multiple giving is the only realistic option.
If its not grassroots contributors, what do you propose to call them? I suggest the 99%.

[George II]

11. The 18-29 year old age group is the smallest of the four with the lowest voter turnout.

It's only been a month, multiple giving because of low bank accounts isn't a factor.

Going back to that guy who made almost 1100 contributions of about $4.50 each over two years - that's about 10 contributions a week!

[floppyboo]

14. must be a russian! LOL!

[George II]

18. You can find out who he is here: FEC.gov

In one year that person made 513 contributions totaling $2925 (must have done some in his and his wife's name), $5.70 per contribution, 10 contributions per WEEK (more than one per day)

Another made 689 contributions totaling $3945 (more than the allowable maximum), again $5.70 each, 13 per week - that's twice every day.

About 200 other contributors had similar patterns of contributions. THAT, my friends, is how one keeps the "average contribution" down to a low number!

[floppyboo]

20. clever!

Take money out of politics and the media won't make such a show, or make it such a game for a few.
Sure hope there is a way to get rid of super pacs.
And the court keeps getting stacked, and the attention is on this pony show.

[George II]

25. It's all in the math. Unfortunately the average voter doesn't pay attention...

...to the actual details.

Lost in the numbers is the fact that there were well over $100 million in un-itemized contributions, about which we know nothing (who the contributors were, how many, how much each, etc.)

A few final facts about what we do know about the itemized contributions:

Itemized contributions totaled $118 million from 1.9 million contributions, an average of $61, not $27 as been advertised.
There were 307,700 contributors who made an average of more than 6 contributions each.
The total $ contribution per contributor was $383, a far cry from $27 and to most people NOT "small contributors".

[pnwmom]

33. Exactly! Thanks, George II, for the explainer. Too many people don't understand that.

I noticed it when I looked at the pages of contributions Bernie had to return, because the donors had exceeded the limits. There were people who made several donations in the SAME DAY.

[George II]

36. There were about a dozen letters sent to the campaign flagging almost 100,000 contributions...

....as being impermissible, including several thousand accepted contributions from foreign entities.

That is an unprecedented number flagged by the FEC.

[pnwmom]

38. I wonder if the Bernie team learned from last time how to do it correctly.

Hillary's team didn't have that problem, and there's no excuse for Bernie this time around.

[brooklynite]

10. If you want to see an "eye-popping" haul...

Link to tweet

[CentralMass]

15. As the article states. Average contribution was $20

As opposed to fewer $2700 dollar donations that a wealthier base might contribute.

[Perrenial Voter]

29. I think Kamala Harris' avg. donation was about $100, which is pretty good. I expect

California has more upper-middle-class donors than most of the country.

[pnwmom]

41. He's always encouraged his donors to make multiple small donations, rather than fewer, bigger gifts.

Many of them were so enthused last time that they accidentally gave more than the campaign limits, so he had to return the excess.

[George II]

37. +1,000,000

[pnwmom]

17. Although given his database this number is on the low end of public expectations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/kamala-harris-fundraising-2020.html

His average donation was $27 in 2016, suggesting he has raised somewhere between $18 million and $24 million.


https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/01/pete-buttigieg-2020-fundraising-1246204

Connor Farrell, a veteran Democratic finance consultant, on Mayor Pete’s haul:

"It's really good for a small town mayor but I think Bernie and Beto are going to post 25 to 30 million dollars and the pace and the gulf there is going to widen,” Farrell said, adding: "I think it probably takes him out of the B team and puts him at the bottom rung of the A team."

[George II]

39. You're correct. Considering his large email database, which he refused to share with the DNC....

....unlike other candidates, and the contact information he got from the DNC in December 2015, one would have thought he'd do better.

BTW, he claims his average contribution was $27, it actually was in excess of $60, and his average PER contributor (not contribution) was about $360.

The numbers are all in his FEC filings.

[NurseJackie]

19. Interesting. But not as interesting as seeing his full TAX RETURNS.

What are he and Jane hiding? Why won't they release them?

[pnwmom]

22. +1000. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. Lol. Nuthin to say about the impressive numbers?

[NurseJackie]

30. If I was impressed, perhaps. But I'm not.

Nuthin to say about the impressive numbers?

If I was impressed, perhaps. But I'm not. Now that those number have been released and the deadline has passed, the person in charge of submitting that data now has a few free hours to work on releasing Bernie and Jane's taxes.

I'm sure they'll be released "soon" or "any day now", eh?

I'm mostly curious why Bernie and Jane haven't released their full tax returns. Delay after delay, excuse after excuse. If their tax returns for the past ten years were complete enough to submit to the IRS, then they're complete enough to release to the American voters.

What does Jane do with herself all day, anyway? Surely she's had plenty of time to print them and black out the SSN's. How hard can it be? What are they hiding? This is just a great big "fuck you" to the American people and to the other candidates.

We deserve transparency and honesty. Where are the tax returns? People need to know ALL about the candidates and whether he (or she) is a tax cheat, and where his (or her) money comes from, and where he (or she) invests/donates his (or her) money, and if his (or her) money is in domestic or "off-shore" banking accounts.

That's perfectly reasonable to ask of ALL our candidates. It's just so odd that Bernie won't release his when "transparency" and "honesty" have been the cornerstone of his talking points. Why won't they live up to the demands and expectations that they place upon others?

[George II]

40. Considering the campaign forecast $20 million, they're not as impressive as some would like.....

...especially since he has about a four year head start on everyone else. Now, Kamala Harris' numbers were impressive when you take into account that she's been in Washington only two years vs. close to 30 years.

[Gothmog]

44. On the bright side, sanders failure to meet his goal makes Harris' numbers look even better

Link to tweet

[Power 2 the People]

21. Fabulous start!!!

[louis c]

27. I want to spend my time in the General Election talking about what an asshole Trump is...

...not what the fuck Socialism is.

[Power 2 the People]

34. Agree.That would be great.

[louis c]

45. If Bernie is the nominee, that Socialist label he so proudly wears...

...will force us into that explanation to the 8% that we need to win and who won't listen beyond that word.

[pnwmom]

35. Yes !!!!!!!

And, me, neither!

[pnwmom]

23. Bernie raised about $15 million in his first quarter last time around,

so this is an increase from four years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/02/politics/bernie-sanders-fundraising/index.html

(CNN)Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign has raised about $15 million since it launched in late April, aides to the campaign told CNN on Thursday.

The aides added that the 400,000 donations came from about 250,000 individual donors. The average donation was $33.51 and 99% of donations were under $250

[BlueFlorida]

32. Math?

18 million divided by 250,000 individual donors comes to an average of $72.00 per donor.

[RandySF]

26. This and other indicators put Bernie and Kamala in the top 2

Although Beto and Biden will eventually join the top tier.

[Politicub]

28. He certainly is a money magnet

It's an impressive haul by any measure.

[BlueFlorida]

31. 6 million in 24 hours

and 12 million in 5 weeks after.

The spigot is slowing ......

[Gothmog]

43. sanders had $10 million after first week

That means that sanders only got $8 for the next four weeks

[Gothmog]

42. So sanders did not meet the $20 million that people were expecting

Most people were told to expect that sanders would raise more than $20 million given that he had raised over $10 million in his first week https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/trump-turns-2020-election-referendum-health-care-n989926

Bernie Sanders raised $5.9 million in his first 24 hours, and appears to be on pace to raise more than $20 million for the quarter after announcing on February 19.

sanders also felled short of the 1 million contributions he promised.