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The dip has forced Trump to rely more on wealthy donors and groups backed by them, a shift that cuts into the populist message that first propelled him to the White House. The decline in donations could not come at a worse time for Trump. Democrats have raised massive sums from small-dollar donors this cycle. President Joe Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris have raised a staggering $285 million from such donors since April 2023, representing more than 40% of their fundraising, according to data from OpenSecrets.

GOP operatives said the trend could portend trouble for the broader party. Trump’s fundraising dip raises questions about the party’s ability to continue tapping its aging base for funds. Such voters often live on fixed incomes and don’t have the extra cash to contribute to candidates, and polls have consistently found that the Republican base is growing older.

Republicans also engaged in a hyperaggressive – often combative – style of digital fundraising that is alienating voters, the operatives said. Campaigns and committees often share or rent lists of donors to each other, leading to voters being flooded with similar solicitations that can be confusing.

Republican vendors have so mistreated our donors that many grassroots donors don’t want to give to us anymore, said John Hall, a Republican fundraising consultant and partner at Apex Strategies. If you make a donation to almost any Republican candidate today, within three weeks you are going to start getting 30-50 text messages from other candidates you have never heard of before.

In a poll of thousands of Republican donors earlier this year, Apex Strategies found 72% of Republican donors said they continued to receive text message solicitations after they had requested to be removed from a list.

Donors feel like they are never thanked, they feel abused, and they don’t know how to get off lists, Hall said. This has a chilling effect on everyone’s fundraising.

Small-dollar donors are frustratedSmall-dollar donors echoed Hall’s concerns. They told the AP they stopped giving to Trump’s campaign because they were tired of being barraged with solicitations for donations from other Republicans, who presumably got the donor information from the Trump campaign. Others said they were being more careful about their political giving due to financial struggles.

I am sick of them asking for money, said Susan Brito, 51, of Florida, who gave dozens of small donations totaling $69 in 2022 and 2023 but hasn’t contributed this year. I am disabled, you are sending me text, after text, after text.

Bill Ruggio, 70, donated nearly every month, a total of $60, to Trump’s campaign over 2022 and 2023. He hasn’t contributed anything this year, saying he doesn’t have the extra cash and is deeply frustrated by a barrage of text messages he receives from the Republican candidates and committees.

I don’t even look at my texts anymore during the political season. It is just so many that I miss personal ones because there are so many of the political ones, Ruggio said. It kind of sticks in your craw.

Doug Deeken, the Republican Party chair in Wayne County, Ohio, said such complaints are fairly common.

People get annoyed by the text messages, and the direct mail, and the emails, Deeken said, his phone filled with texts from random conservative groups asking for money. It is annoying. It annoys me!

Trump campaign blames Harris for drop-offKaroline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, did not directly respond to the donor drop-off, but blamed the Biden administration and Harris for a bad economy leading people to have less money, something President Trump completely understands.”

Before Trump, Democrats dominated the small-dollar donor playing field, but Trump cut into the advantage in 2016, turning his devoted base into small donations throughout the year. Trump raised $170 million from small-dollar donors, about 52% of his total, according to OpenSecrets. The candidate’s haul from small donors outpaced the $164 million that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton raised from such contributors, a figure that represented just under 30% of her total fundraising. In 2020, Trump continued that fundraising prowess.

The problem this year, said Republican officials and activists in key states, is that the persistent fundraising requests from campaigns and committees have led voters to question whether their money is actually going to Trump. One reason for this issue is major email lists being rented out by smaller campaigns. This means that someone who has signed up to receive emails from Trump, could get emails from a host of Republican candidates, raising skepticism about where their money is actually going.

It’s the total number of texts people are getting and fundraising requests that are coming in. That causes the confusion, said Shannon Burns, a top Republican activist in Ohio and vocal Trump supporter. Burns said donors feel bombarded by the often breathless outreach from a range of groups, leading to questions from Trump supporters. Those questions were so frequent, he said, that at one point he began giving out the physical mailing address where a Trump supporter could send a check.

Trump’s campaign has tried to stop committees from using his name and likeness in fundraising appeals.

In March 2023, the Trump campaign sent Republican digital fundraising vendors a memo that stated the former president does not consent to outside groups or candidates using his name or image in fundraising appeals. He also sent a cease and desist letter to the top Republican committees in Washington in 2021, urging them to stop using his name in fundraising appeals.

First Published: Oct 10 2024 | 12:24 PM IST