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ActBlue
| ActBlue | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Somerville, Mass. |
| Type: | PAC |
| Top official: | Regina Wallace-Jones, Executive Director |
| Founder(s): | Matt DeBergalis and Ben Rahn |
| Year founded: | 2004 |
| Website: | Official website |
ActBlue is a political action committee that raises funds for Democratic and progressive candidates, campaigns, and organizations through its online platform. The organization says they "build and power the premier online fundraising platform for Democratic campaigns, progressive organizations, and nonprofits working to create a better future."[1] Contributions distributed through the platform are individual donations, not PAC donations.[2]
Background
ActBlue was founded in 2004 by Ben Rahn and Matt DeBergalis to help progressive and Democratic fundraising for electoral and ballot measure campaigns.[3]The New York Times Derek Willis reported that ActBlue began "as an experiment by two friends wanting to finance progressive causes" and has become "a major fund-raising mechanism for the Democratic Party."[4][5][6]
As of June 2025, ActBlue's website said of its mission: "We’re a nonprofit, and we believe that democracy works best when campaigns and organizations are powered by those they serve. Through innovation and community, we strive to foster a safe and equitable democracy built by and for “we, the people."[7]
Leadership
According to a ActBlue's LinkedIn and press releases, the following individuals served in the organization's leadership[8][9]:
- Regina Wallace-Jones: Executive director
- Ben Rahn: Product engineer and board member
- Candace King: Head of People & Culture
- Paul Tucker: Technical Project Manager
Work
Campaign usage for fundraising
As an online fundraising platform, the organization itself does not donate any money to any candidates. ActBlue processes donations to a candidate and then gives those donations to the intended candidate. [5] The organization's website says it "operate[s] as a conduit, which means donations made through ActBlue to a campaign or organization are considered individual donations...we don't fundraise, donate, or send texts or emails on behalf of any group."[10]
Presidential campaigns
ActBlue was used by various presidential campaigns, including Kamala Harris' (D) 2024 campaign, Joe Biden's (D), 2020 and 2024 campaigns, and Bernie Sanders' (I) 2016 and 2020 campaigns.[11][12] Additionally every Democratic candidate in the 2020 Democratic primaries utilized ActBlue to process donations.[13]
In March 2016, POLITICO reported that ActBlue had processed its billionth dollar since it began operations in 2004. According to the report, over $100 million of the billion dollars came from donations to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' (D) 2016 presidential campaign.[14]
On July 21, 2024, ActBlue reported $90 million in donations after Joe Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race and Kamala Harris' entrance.[15]
Usage in non-presidential races and years
According to an October 2018 analysis by FiveThirtyEight, the $564 million processed by ActBlue between January 2017 and September 30, 2018, was 55 percent of all contributions from individual donors to Democratic congressional candidates. This was more than double the percentage of the 2014 election cycle when ActBlue processed about 19 percent of the total amount of individual donor contributions.[16]
The New York Times' Lisa Lerer wrote that ActBlue "emerged as the piggy bank of the Democratic resistance in the 2018 midterms, funneling nearly $1.6 billion in contributions to Democratic candidates and causes."[17]
In 2020, ActBlue announced it had processed over $4.8 billion for various candidates and organizations over the course of the 2020 election cycle.[18]
In 2022, on the day of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ActBlue processed $20.6 million in donations to Democratic groups and candidates.[19]
Affiliations
ActBlue Civics
ActBlue Civics is a 501(c)(4) that, according to ActBlue's website, "helps left/liberal 501(c)(4)s build grassroots movements with our online fundraising tools."[20]
AB Charities
AB Charities is a 501(c)(3) that, according to ActBlue's website, "helps 501(c)(3) charities build small-dollar fundraising programs with our online fundraising tools. With AB Charities, nonprofits now have a stronger option for building a digital grassroots fundraising program that can sustain their work for the long term."[20]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of ActBlue's revenues and expenses from 2008 to 2024. The data is presented in two-year intervals, as that is how the data is made publicly available. The information comes from the Federal Election Commission
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2009-2010 | $63.9 million | $60.4 million |
| 2011-2012 | $151.1 million | $147.2 million |
| 2013-2014 | $280.3 million | $274.6 million |
| 2015-2016 | $694.7 million | $684.3 million |
| 2017-2018 | $1.262 billion | $1.251 billion |
| 2019-2020 | $4.318 billion | $4.267 billion |
| 2021-2022 | $2.227 billion | $2.244 billion |
| 2023-2024 | $3.821 billion | $3.789 billion |
Noteworthy events
Federal investigation (2025)
On April 2, 2025, the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a report that alleged that ActBlue had allowed fraudulent donations to be made on the platform. The report's executive summary said the Committee's investigation "uncovered evidence that ActBlue made policy changes in 2024 that resulted in more fraudulent donations on the platform... ActBlue changed its fraud-prevention standards to make them 'more lenient.' ActBlue internally assessed that the April change alone led to between 14 and 28 additional fraudulent contributions each month."[21] The report also said that there were various instances of fraud, some of which "had a foreign nexus."[21]
On April 24, Donald Trump (R) issued a memorandum to investigate foreign contributions to elections, citing the House report.[22]
In a May 2 blog post, ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones criticized the federal investigation, saying "[t]he Trump Administration’s allegations against ActBlue are completely baseless. Let’s be clear about what this is: Donald Trump and his accomplices in the Republican party are targeting ActBlue as part of their brazen attack on democracy in America."[23]
On June 9, ActBlue's legal counsel sent a letter to the U.S Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), James Comer (R-Kent.), and Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), who chaired the House Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Committee on House Administration respectively. The letter asked for clarity on the purpose of the investigation.[24] In a blog post discussing the letter, Wallace-Jones wrote, "Over the last year and a half, ActBlue has cooperated fully with these committees’ partisan-driven inquiries. We’ve voluntarily provided detailed information, producing over 3,500 pages of documentation, and responded expediently in good faith to each request... But recent public statements from committee chairs and the release of a grossly misleading interim report suggest this investigation has been co-opted."[25]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'ActBlue'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- ActBlue
- ActBlue on Twitter
- ActBlue on Facebook
- ActBlue on Instagram
- ActBlue on LinkedIn
- ActBlue on TikTok
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "ActBlue," accessed April 22, 2020
- ↑ ActBlue, "Why is ActBlue considered a PAC?" accessed April 22, 2020
- ↑ The New York Times, "A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online," November 29, 2007
- ↑ Wired, "ActBlue's One-Click Donations Are Transforming The 2016 Race," November 25, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 ActBlue, "Are contributions made through ActBlue PAC contributions? (Hint: No!)," accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ New York Times, "How ActBlue Became a Powerful Force in Fund-Raising," October 9, 2014
- ↑ ActBlue, "About," accessed October 29, 2024
- ↑ ActBlue, "ActBlue Demands Transparency in GOP-led Congressional Investigation," accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ LinkedIn, "ActBlue, accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ ActBlue, "About," accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ ActBlue, "What happens to my donation to Biden for President?" accessed October 28, 2024
- ↑ Revolution Messaging, "Bernie 2016, A full-service digital revolution," accessed October 28, 2024
- ↑ The Center for Public Integrity, "Why Democrats are falling over themselves to find small-dollar donors," April 17, 2019
- ↑ POLITICO, "Rubio, Sanders win Sunday contests," March 7, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Harris Raised $81 Million in First 24 Hours as Candidate," July 22, 2024
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "How ActBlue Is Trying To Turn Small Donations Into A Blue Wave," October 25, 2018
- ↑ The New York Times, "ActBlue, the Democrats’ Not-So-Secret Weapon," November 16, 2018
- ↑ ActBlue, "The 2020 Election Cycle Recap," December 3, 2020
- ↑ CBS News, "ActBlue processed more than half a billion dollars in three-month period," July 20, 2022
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 ActBlue Support, "About ActBlue, AB Charities, and ActBlue Civics," accessed June 16, 2025
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 U.S. House of Representatives, "FRAUD ON ACTBLUE: HOW THE DEMOCRATS’ TOP FUNDRAISING PLATFORM OPENS THE DOOR FOR ILLEGAL ELECTION CONTRIBUTIONS," April 2, 2025
- ↑ The White House, "Investigation into Unlawful “Straw Donor” and Foreign Contributions in American Elections," April 24, 2024
- ↑ ActBlue, "ActBlue Investigation: What’s Really Happening and What You Need to Know," May 2, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "ActBlue says GOP investigation might be a partisan violation of the Constitution," June 9, 2025
- ↑ ActBlue, "ActBlue Demands Transparency in GOP-led Congressional Investigation," June 9, 2025
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