The DCCC realized early on that, given unified Republican control of Washington and Republican dark money groups, Democrats would be massively outspent in the midterms. To combat this, the DCCC knew we needed to harness the power of grassroots mobilization and made innovative investments and new roles early on in the cycle.
Take a look at some of the groundbreaking decisions we made this cycle…
DCCC Fundraising and Historically Large Investment in List-Acquisition
- Immediately after the 2016 election, the DCCC decided to make a historically large investment in email list acquisition, spending over $2.5M between November 2016 and March 2017.
- The DCCC has raised over $100M online this cycle, in part because of this early investment, with an average donation of $19.
NBC News: Democrats made a bet on Trump that just paid off — bigly
Campaign committees often go deep into debt during an election and typically look to cut costs and layoff staff afterward. The DCCC was no exception, facing roughly $14 million in outstanding obligations.
But armed with the data from the early tests, Ager asked the committee’s new executive director, Dan Sena, and its chairman, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., to take the peculiar step of spending millions of dollars upfront to build their email fundraising list in the hopes it would pay dividends later.
They approved the gamble, and the first ads went online a week after the election. By the end of March, the group had spent $2.5 million on email acquisition.
[…] But a year later, the owners of those new email addresses have contributed $6.7 million and counting. Overall, the group has seen 256,585 new donors this year.
“It paid off massively,” Ager said. “We took a bold strategy right after the election, and we feel this early investment is why we’ve been so successful.”
Politico: DCCC surpasses online fundraising total from 2016
The DCCC has bested its total digital fundraising mark from the 2016 election cycle, passing $75.27 million raised with months still to go in the 2018 midterms.
The committee passed the milestone early Tuesday morning, 10 weeks before the polls open on Election Day, a DCCC aide said. It is possible the DCCC could pass $100 million raised online by Nov. 6, since online giving rates grow so rapidly in the final weeks of an election.
[…] Starting the week after the disappointing result, the DCCC began a digital ad campaign to build its email list, ultimately spending nearly $2.6 million on the effort by the end of March 2017, according to the DCCC aide. The drive came as grassroots Democrats mobilized in force against the Trump administration, flooding existing and new organizations with donations. The people who joined the DCCC list in that acquisition spree have donated nearly $9.5 million to the committee so far.
CNN: DCCC tops $50 million in online fundraising for 2018 midterms
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week crossed the $50 million threshold in online fundraising for the 2018 election cycle, more than doubling its 2016 pace ahead of the party’s push to take control of the House in November’s midterm elections.
[…] The soaring online fundraising comes in part from more than 310,000 first-time donors in the 2018 election cycle.
[…] The committee’s 12-person team involved in online fundraising efforts — largely via email after adding names through Facebook ads — aggressively courted new donors in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s election, when other party committees were sidelined in the middle of leadership and staff changes.
At a period in which it was in debt after 2016, the DCCC spent $2.5 million from November until the beginning of March building its email list with digital ads. People added to the email list in that window have given nearly $7.7 million, the DCCC said.
“We just saw this really unprecedented engagement,” said Julia Ager, the DCCC’s chief digital officer. “It’s sort of obvious in retrospect, but at the time it really wasn’t clear was much that this was going to be a huge moment.”
Politico: DCCC raises $100 million online in massive midterm haul
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised over $100 million online in the 2018 election cycle — a massive haul that has helped fuel Democrats’ drive to retake the House majority.
The DCCC passed the nine-figure mark on Tuesday, one week out from Election Day, with an average donation of $19, according to a committee aide. The committee had raised $67 million online by this point in the 2016 election, its previous record year.
The digital total comprises about 40 percent of the $250 million the DCCC has raised in total for the 2018 election as of its latest FEC report.
[…] The DCCC ended up spending over $2.5 million on “acquisition” ads between then and March 2017, at the time of the election cycle when party committee’s cash reserves are always at their lowest point. But the early decision paid off: The new additions to the DCCC list from that ad campaign donated over $11.1 million to the committee in 2017 and 2018, the DCCC aide said. The committee has received nearly a half-million first-time online donations this cycle.
The DCCC’s digital department spent the last two years leaping on big news moments to bring in digital dollars to the committee. The committee raised nearly $1.2 million online around Trump’s inauguration and the women’s marches that immediately followed, the DCCC aide said; $720,000 following Senate Republicans’ vote to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) during debate over Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ confirmation; and $887,000 during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.
Regional Digital Directors
- The DCCC acknowledged early on that Democrats would be massively outspent by Republican dark money groups. To combat this, the DCCC decided on a strategy of emphasizing grassroots candidate money to ensure candidates had the resources to tell their own story.
- To ensure candidates had the resources to run effective campaigns, the DCCC placed Regional Digital Directors in each regional pod to harness the power of grassroots money for candidates.
- Because the DCCC knew that candidate dollars go father, Democratic candidates were able to beat the CLF and NRCC to the airwaves in some cases, introducing their records of service early and defending themselves against false attacks.
CNN: Republicans are fretting over the Democratic money advantage in midterms
With that strategic advantage in mind, the DCCC placed digital strategists and finance staff in regional “pods” for the first time, working with campaigns on messaging and fundraising. This created more campaigns with sophisticated fundraising operations that were able to capitalize on viral moments or breaking news that energized Democratic voters.
Politico: Democrats find their answer to the Koch brothers
But the gush of online money to Democratic candidates has allowed them to hit the airwaves themselves earlier than ever, blunting the GOP’s game plan. Democrats in nearly 20 districts aired TV ads first to define themselves before facing GOP attacks, according to a review of TV spending totals shared with POLITICO. In another seven districts, CLF went on offense first.
[…] The money sprouted after months of groundwork by campaigns and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The DCCC placed digital staffers in each of its regional political teams for the first time this election, according to a DCCC aide, helping campaigns grow online and be prepared to capitalize on viral moments and other opportunities.
Washington Post: Republicans warn ‘green wave’ of Democratic cash could overwhelm House GOP candidates
Officials with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee beefed up their digital teams last year to connect them with campaigns like Lamb’s, building the online infrastructure necessary to raise huge sums from liberal donors looking for ways to support anti-Trump candidates.
[…] Democrats have also benefited from liberal activists pouring donations into the DCCC. Donors are limited to checks of $33,900 to such a party committee, but online fundraising has led to an outpouring of small-dollar donors who have provided the DCCC a significant advantage over the NRCC.
The Democratic committee has, so far, reserved $63.5 million in ads, compared with $46.8 million for the Republican committee.
This energy among liberal donors has forced Republicans into making hard choices about where to spend their dollars. At the moment, the NRCC has no money reserved to defend Roskam, a former member of Republican leadership.