Democratic group launches campaign donation clearinghouse

A Democratic PAC is launching a fund to connect small-dollar donors and individual campaigns around the country in an effort to encourage more people to open up their pocketbooks.

Swing Left — a group that’s one part fundraiser, one part grassroots — last week started its Immediate Impact Fund, a platform that identifies Democrats in need of cash and allows donors to channel their donations to all or some participating campaigns.

“With 60 days until Election Day, the energy, excitement and buzz among Democratic grassroots donors and volunteers is palpable. At the same time, there is so much noise for regular people to cut through. We often hear that people are inundated with so much information about where they should spend their money, time and attention, and this inundation can lead to decision paralysis,” said Yasmin Radjy, executive director of Swing Left.

The fund will act as a rotating clearinghouse, naming different beneficiaries weekly depending on the group’s metrics.

“Swing Left is taking out the guesswork with our Immediate Impact Fund, which we’re updating weekly until Election Day with a rotating slate of candidates,” Radjy said.

“We select these candidates based on which races need donor and volunteer support and whose victories are the most important in securing federal and state majorities in the places that matter most.”

The fund uses historical election returns, current polling, assessments of the national political climate, fundraising data, national committee expenditures and independent ratings to select its target campaigns.

The first round of Democrats on the group’s radar are the Senate campaigns of Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s reelection effort, four Democratic House challengers — Amish Shah in Arizona, George Whitesides in California, Tony Vargas in Nebraska and Janelle Bynum in Oregon — as well as general funds associated with Swing Left nationally and specifically in Michigan and New Hampshire.

Small-dollar donations are featuring heavily in some of 2024’s most contested congressional races.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is facing a stronger-than-usual Democratic challenger in Rep. Colin Allred, has raised nearly $26 million in small-dollar donations; Allred has raised nearly $16 million through small-dollar donations, according to OpenSecrets.

Gallego and Tester have also received substantial grassroots financial support: Gallego has added about $13.6 million and Tester $12.8 million in small-dollar funding.

But a lot of small-dollar money goes to national figures who can then support their peers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for instance, has raised $21 million, though his seat is not at risk.

Representatives in safe seats such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) or the GOP’s Jim Jordan (Ohio) are among the biggest House grassroots fundraisers — leaders with higher aspirations can choose between helping allies around the country or building war chests for future runs.

But often smaller campaigns in key battleground districts struggle to attract attention from individual donors.

Swing Left’s model seeks to increase the direct flow of campaign funds without adding to the accounting and administrative costs for campaigns receiving individual donations.

Each donor can contribute up to $3,300 to each candidate in the general election, meaning campaigns have to cast a wide net to build up a substantial reserve through individual donations.

And the funds processed through that model go directly to campaign coffers as contributions, rather than being spent as outside super PAC dollars that can’t be officially coordinated with the campaigns.

According to the group, Swing Left has raised about $15 million for Democrats from the presidential to state-level races in 2024.

Swing Left also claims to have 1 million volunteers throughout the country who support Democrats with groundwork like phone banking and canvassing.

“With our Immediate Impact Fund, we can ensure that grassroots donors and volunteers are focused on the most influential races and the path to victory for Democrats, up and down the ballot,” Radjy said.