ActBlue

ActBlue logo (2023–present)
Formation	2004; 20 years ago (2004)
Type	Nonprofit political action committee
Location	Somerville, MA
President and CEO	Regina Wallace-Jones
Affiliations	Democratic Party
Website	secure.actblue.com

ActBlue^[1] is a nonprofit American fundraising platform and political action committee (PAC) founded in 2004. ActBlue builds technology and infrastructure to be used by Democratic campaigns and has been described as “the center of a transformation in how political campaigns work.”^[2][3] It is focused on mobilizing small-dollar donors and, as of June 2024, has raised $13.7 billion for left-leaning and Democratic candidates and causes since it was established.^[4] ActBlue is organized as a PAC, but it serves as a conduit for processing individual contributions made through the platform. Under federal law, these contributions are made by individuals and are not considered PAC donations.

ActBlue was founded^[5] in 2004 by Benjamin Rahn and Matt DeBergalis. Rahn and DeBergalis were joined in 2005 by Jonathan Zucker and Erin Hill. Zucker took over as Executive Director in 2007;^[6] he was replaced by Hill in 2009. In 2023, Regina Wallace-Jones replaced Hill as President and CEO of ActBlue.^[7]

In 2008, ActBlue introduced ActBlue Express, which allowed donors to save their payment information. That year, small-dollar donors gave $21 million on ActBlue – six times what they raised in the 2006 cycle.^[8]

In 2011, opponents of Act 10 in Wisconsin used ActBlue to organize and mobilize against Governor Scott Walker-supported legislation that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for public employees.

In February 2016, ActBlue launched AB Charities, an arm of the organization that makes ActBlue's fundraising tools available to nonprofits.

Both the 2016^[9] and 2020 Democratic presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, used ActBlue during their primary and general election campaigns. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 primary campaigns also used ActBlue for fundraising. Sanders’s use of ActBlue was particularly notable as it represented the first time a major Democratic presidential candidate eschewed money from super PACs in favor of grassroots fundraising. This strategy would later be replicated by other Democratic political figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In the 2020 Democratic primary, all the Democratic presidential candidates used ActBlue.

In December 2020, ActBlue voluntarily recognized the Campaign Workers Guild as its staff union.

In 2023, ActBlue announced that it was laying off roughly 17 percent of its staff as part of what the group said was a "restructuring" that would help ensure "long-term financial sustainability."^[10]

In 2024, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and later Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, used ActBlue.^[11]

ActBlue does not endorse individual candidates.^[12] It also does not promote any groups using its platform, or send emails or texts or fundraise on their behalf.^[13] Use of the platform is open to Democratic and progressive campaigns, candidates, committees, and 501(c)4 organizations. 501(c)3 organizations are able to use the platform through ActBlue Charities.^[14]

Groups that use ActBlue pay a 3.95% credit card processing fee.^[15] As a nonprofit, ActBlue runs its own separate fundraising program and accepts tips on contributions to pay for its expenses.^[16]

ActBlue reports all contributions processed to Federal campaigns to the Federal Election Commission, regardless of the amount.^[17] When a candidate for a Federal election raises money through ActBlue, ActBlue serves as a conduit for election law purposes.^[18][19] All conduit contributions are itemized and reported. By contrast, there is a $200 threshold for reporting individuals who contribute directly to a candidate committee.^[19]

ActBlue is PCI compliant and has passed rigorous security tests to ensure that all donor credit cards are fully protected. ActBlue is required to conduct quarterly security tests and annual external audits.^[20]

ActBlue Express Lane allows donors with ActBlue Express accounts to contribute instantly from an email or fundraiser’s website. Donors only need to click the link for a specific amount and their contribution automatically goes through. As of June 2024, there were over 14 million ActBlue Express users on the platform.^[21][22]

ActBlue Charities, the newest arm of ActBlue, helps 501(c)(3) charities build small-dollar fundraising programs with online fundraising tools. AB Charities has separate branding, is not promoted as ActBlue, and is not involved in any of ActBlue's political work.^[23]

ActBlue raised $19 million in its first three years, from 2004 to 2007.^[24] In the 2005-2006 campaign, the site raised $17 million for 1500 Democratic candidates, with $15.5 million going to congressional campaigns. By August 2007, the site had raised $25.5 million.^[25]

In 2016, the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue took in nearly $800 million in small-dollar donations.^[26]

In the 2018 midterm elections, Democratic candidates fundraised $1.6 billion for their campaigns through ActBlue’s platform.^[27]

In 2019, ActBlue raised roughly $1 billion for a wide variety of campaigns.^[28] The Daily Beast notes that between January and mid-July 2019, ActBlue brought in $420 million, and that "According to the organization, that total came from 3.3 million unique donors and was dispersed to almost 9,000 Democratic campaigns and organizations, with $246 million coming in the second quarter alone."^[29]

In 2020, several fundraising records were broken. In the week following the murder of George Floyd, on May 31, over $19 million was raised, the highest single-day total so far that year. On June 1, that yearly record was again broken with $20 million in donations. Over half of all donations in the following week went to charitable (non-political) causes, including one ActBlue page devoted to a bail fund which raised over $1.5 million from over 20,000 donors.^[30] In the day following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, over $70 million was donated through ActBlue, again breaking the single-day fundraising record.^[31]

In 2022, ActBlue brought in $20.6 million on the day the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.^[32]

In the first 24 hours following the launch of Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, small-dollar donors raised $90 million through ActBlue, making it the biggest 24 hour period ever on the platform for dollars raised sitewide.^[33][34]

In July and August 2024, statewide officials from three Republican-led states launched investigations into ActBlue, citing allegations that the platform had stolen people's identities to conceal illegal donations, including from overseas. ActBlue called the investigation from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares a "partisan political attack and scare tactic".^[35][36][37] A related United States House Administration Committee investigation into ActBlue was also expanded during this time.^[35] ActBlue had previously been the target of fraud accusations by right-wing activists, though experts have expressed doubt about the veracity of these claims.^{[35][37][38][39]}

Republican members of Congress have also expressed concerns that ActBlue was not verifying donors' credit card information using Card Verification Value (CVV) codes. A spokesperson for ActBlue said in August 2024 that they had begun expanding CVV verification in 2023 and were now requiring it for all new credit card donations.^[35][40]

• Pod Save America
• WinRed - created in 2019 as a Republican version of ActBlue for small-donor fundraising^[41]

Media related to ActBlue at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• ActBlue - Ballotpedia