A frequent refrain in discussions about improving the Right's online fundraising performance centers on the need to find more donors. In our 2022 survey of conservative fundraising professionals, one respondent stated plainly: "The donor gap is the biggest advantage that the Democrats have" in online fundraising.
This emphasis on expanding the Republican donor base has been a recurring theme in media coverage of the fundraising disparity between political parties.
Yet our 2024 post-election survey revealed a sobering reality: just 15% of voters reported making political donations during the previous two-year election cycle. Federal Election Commission (FEC) data confirms that the active donor pool for federal candidates and PACs comprises roughly 7-8 million individuals—a proportion of the electorate that has remained relatively flat despite significant recruitment efforts by both parties.
Donors Are Being Reached, But Not Responding
Two-thirds of voters (67%) reported receiving solicitations via mail, texts, emails, or ads asking them to donate to political candidates or groups during the 2024 election. In fact, donation requests have emerged as the fourth most prevalent form of voter contact, behind only online advertising, TV ads, and direct mail.
The data reveals a crucial insight: prospective donors are being reached by campaigns, but they actively choose not to give. From another perspective, 52% of voters who report being directly solicited for donations do not contribute to campaigns.
This evidence suggests that the pool of willing donors may have reached a natural ceiling under the current fundraising model.
A Two-Track Strategy for Conservative Fundraising
There are two parallel approaches conservatives can pursue to address their grassroots online fundraising challenges:
1. Optimize Existing Donor Relationships
Recognizing that the active donor pool is relatively fixed (for both parties), with some natural churn due to demographics and shifting political preferences, campaigners should focus on optimizing giving from existing donors. This includes:
- Better coordination of fundraising efforts to address donors' complaints about solicitation fatigue. Donors report that approximately 73% of communications they receive from Republican campaigns are requests for donations, despite preferring a more balanced mix of roughly 50-50 between donation asks and other content.
- Reducing fundraising costs to improve net funds raised per donor.
2. Develop New Fundraising Models
Campaigners must explore fundraising approaches beyond the current model, which essentially represents the digitization of legacy direct mail and phone solicitation programs. The thriving online creator economy offers several promising models:
- Payment-gated digital content including premium newsletters, podcasts, and videos
- Interactive livestreams with tipping mechanisms to reward engagement
- Unique experiences such as conferences, meetups, and exclusive events
- Original merchandise and publications that supporters value
The Path Forward
Pursuing these initiatives will undoubtedly disrupt existing business models and fundraising forecasts. However, such innovation is urgently needed as the pool of donors willing to contribute through traditional channels (primarily email and text messaging) has plateaued.
If conservatives hope to narrow the fundraising gap with the Left, they must commit to this dual strategy: optimizing existing fundraising operations while embracing new voter-centric monetization opportunities that reflect how today's supporters prefer to engage and contribute.
