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What Would Democratizing Fundraising Look Like?
The DNC needs to let many flowers bloom instead of just having one fundraiser.
mister mix
April 28, 2025
The Trump administration is spreading some bullshit lies about ActBlue, saying that it’s a conduit to foreign donations when, in fact, their technology is pretty effective at screening out foreign donors. (Even the Republican who tried to make an issue of it admitted that they’re pretty good at it.)
Still, there’s an issue:
Nixing the platform would deplete the donations pipeline to Democratic candidates. Cory Archibald, communications director at Turn Left PAC, described the open field of Democratic campaign tech as the party’s “Achilles’ heel.”
“There is no other fundraising platform that comes even close to the functionality, security, and stability of ActBlue,” Archibald told TNR. “Democrats need to democratize their campaign tech, and they need to do it yesterday.”
I’m sure that others can contribute to this, but here’s what the DNC, DCCC and DSCC could do to establish an entire ecosystem of fundraising platforms:
Start a certification program for payment processors that has prominent branding to ensure that donors know which processors are sanctioned by the party.
Establish standards for data collection and retention for any payment-related data collected. These standards should include sections on data security, donor verification and payment processing via third parties.
Require regular audits by outside firms of both data security and payments.
Set a very low overhead percentage that all processors must meet in order to stay certified — in other words, don’t let a bunch of greed heads ensconce themselves in cushy, highly paid positions.
This seems like an important function of a central party, and I don’t think it’s an unreasonable expectation to have a few new processors spun up in 6 months or less.
I’m sure there are some fairly gross, insider-dealing reasons that ActBlue hasn’t been under closer supervision by the party, not to mention that ActBlue has damaged the party’s ability to fundraise. No matter, it’s time for the party to step up and act like adults about this.
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