2020 Election Cycle In Review

During the 2020 election cycle, small-dollar donors transformed organizing and powered change that will be felt for years to come. Millions of donors chipped in for the first time in 2019 and 2020, and those supporters fueled people-powered campaigns across the country, including the historic Biden-Harris campaign. More unique donors gave in the 2020 election cycle than in ActBlue’s entire previous 14-year history combined, and with more people than ever engaging in civic action, grassroots-powered campaigns are here to stay.

$5,080,054,527

Total Dollars Raised in the 2020 Cycle

133,390,767

Total Contributions

15,050,186

Total Unique Donors

10,805,715

Total First-Time Donors

$38.08

Average Contribution Size

Total Dollars Raised on ActBlue by Election Cycle

More Groups Raising Than Ever Before

The small-dollar donor movement this cycle was expansive. It wasn’t just federal campaigns connecting with grassroots donors — up and down the ballot, small-dollar donors were fighting for change and recognizing the power that local- and state-level legislation has to impact their communities. Their contributions are long-term investments in organizing and activism. And millions of donors gave to nonprofits to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, organize for voting rights, and, most significantly, to help sustain and support Black-led organizations and racial justice groups who led the way after the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and countless other Black people by police forces and armed vigilantes.

22,449

Total Unique Groups Raised on ActBlue in the 2020 Cycle

14,601

Groups Raised on ActBlue for the First Time This Cycle

219.2%

Increase in Total Dollars Raised by U.S. Senate Candidates Compared to the 2018 Cycle

122.5%

Increase in Total Dollars Raised by State Legislature Candidates Compared to the 2018 Cycle

262.4%

Increase in Total Dollars Raised by Nonprofits Compared to the 2018 Cycle

82.3%

Of Total Individual Contribution Dollars Raised by Federal Candidates Came through ActBlue

Data through December 31, 2020

Cycle-to-Cycle Increase of Groups Raising on ActBlue

Small-Dollar Donor Power

We are proud to build tools that make it easy for anyone to make a contribution to the candidate or cause they believe in. Millions of people took action throughout this election cycle and came back to give again: 52.9% of donors who gave to a presidential primary candidate went on to make another contribution to a different campaign or organization. But don’t take it from us: Listen to grassroots donors tell their stories in their own words below!

71.8%

Of Donors in the 2020 Cycle Were First-Time Givers

58.5%

Of Donors in the 2020 Cycle Gave More Than Once

“I believe in the power of numbers. It also shows the strength of any candidate running for a political office and makes them less beholden to big donors and PACs.”

– Gbenga, MD

“My husband was furloughed due to the pandemic, and our family was left with less than half of our income. But I feel so strongly about changing this country that I wanted to make a difference, even if only a small one. I have never in my life contributed to a political campaign, but I want to help change the way things are.”

– Melissa, PA

Years in the making

ActBlue was founded in 2004, and since then small-dollar donors have given more than $8 billion to candidates and causes on the left!

ActBlue
Makes It Easy

Building successful small-dollar donor programs means meeting donors where they’re at. For the first election cycle in ActBlue’s history, over half of all contributions were made via a mobile device. And in the digital-first world of the COVID-19 pandemic, easy online giving has become even more important. We built new tools in response to the pandemic, including video-focused contribution forms that enable groups to livestream and fundraise at the same time. And over the course of the 2020 cycle, millions of people saved their information in an ActBlue Express account so they could donate with a single click — a huge group of small-dollar donors that are ready to continue the fight and power campaigns and organizations on the left for years to come.

57.6%

Of Contributions Were Made Via Mobile Devices

7.6%

Of Contributions Were Made Using
Apple Pay

19.7%

Of Contributions Were Made Using PayPal

13,555,797

Total ActBlue Express Users at the End of the 2020 Cycle

7,722,078

New ActBlue Express Users Joined in the 2020 Cycle