How Much To Ask? Platforms, Parties, and Suggested Amounts in Political Fundraising

How much do political campaigns ask for contributions, and how do they vary by electoral characteristics and fundraising environments? When soliciting donations, campaigns typically present a set of suggested amounts to procure more money from potential donors. However, we know almost nothing about how campaigns make these demand-side choices. This paper builds benchmark observations and analyzes how political parties and fundraising platforms shape these decisions, using data collected from U.S. federal candidates and fundraising platforms in 2020. Candidates' average suggested amounts differ by party, state-level average income, and fundraising platforms. Ideologically extreme candidates did not solicit smaller dollars, and if anything, the opposite was documented. In addition, the representative digital fundraising platforms by party---ActBlue for Democrats, WinRed for Republicans---could influence campaign tactics such as effective, top-down adjustment for increased contribution limits. I conclude that platforms can be important, active players in the campaign finance ecosystem.

Detecting and Understanding Donor Strategies in Midterm Elections

What explains how political donors decide where to give? Existing research indicates that people donate money to express support for a preferred political “team” and enjoy the emotional benefits of participating in politics. While this explains why people donate, it does little to help understand the different strategies that donors may pursue. In this paper, we use data on individual decisions as to where to allocate contributions to provide fresh insight into the strategies donors are pursuing. Our approach yields a much more nuanced view of campaign finance by showing how differently situated donors pursue divergent contribution strategies. Of particular note, we identify an influential class of engaged and wealthy political donors that spreads their dollars widely, especially focusing on giving to out-of-jurisdiction candidates. This illustrates just how influential the recent elimination of aggregate contribution limits may be in allowing a small share of donors to be broadly influential.

Campaign Contribution Limits in California, Oregon & Washington: What a Difference It Makes

This research examines the current restrictions on campaign contributions to nonfederal candidates in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as the legal challenges in the latter two states. The impact of unrestricted contributions in Oregon had the effect of larger campaign coffers, per registered voter, for state house, state senate, and gubernatorial races for the 2014 election, as well as a more prominent role for wealthy individual donors.