ActBlue

ActBlue is a United States political committee established in June 2004 that enables anyone to fundraise on the Internet for the Democratic Party candidates of their choice.

ActBlue has grown quickly to become a major fundraising tool for Democrats, particularly favored by the netroots and left-leaning bloggers. [ [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119092762951941696.html# "ActBlue Reshapes How Smaller Races Get Financed,"] " The Wall Street Journal", 9/28/07] As of June 2008, ActBlue had raised more than $50 million USD for Democratic candidates at various levels of politics, making it the largest single source of funds for Democrats. The organization is open to all registered Democratic campaigns and candidates, and it does not take a cut. [ActBlue is a not-for-profit organization. Recipient candidates bear the cost of the credit card processing fee, as with political contributions through candidate websites. ActBlue incurs costs of 3.95% of the gross contribution, and those fees are passed on to campaigns. Detailed financial information is available [http://actblue.com/faq#q13 here] . A report by the "New York Times" was in error. ] ActBlue expects to raise more than $100 million for Democrats during the 2008 election cycle. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/us/politics/29actblue.html?_r=2&sq=ActBlue&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=1&adxnnlx=1203980521-H9g8VXlho3/h7NJ2Hh+TBQ "A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online,"] "The New York Times", 11/29/2007]

History

ActBlue was founded in 2004 by Benjamin Rahn, who left a doctoral program in theoretical physics at Caltech to develop the platform, and Matt DeBergalis, a computer science graduate of MIT. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/us/politics/29actblue.html?_r=2&sq=ActBlue&st=nyt&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=1&adxnnlx=1203980521-H9g8VXlho3/h7NJ2Hh+TBQ "A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online,"] "The New York Times", 11/29/2007]

Timeline

* April Fools' Day 2008: [http://www.actblue.com ActBlue] announces on its [http://blog.actblue.com/blog/2008/04/why-euros-why-n.html blog] that it will begin collecting funds for US candidates in Euros, due to the decline of the dollar.

Press Coverage

* [http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/act-blues-record-take/ ActBlue's Record Take] , The New York Times, Caucus Blog, 4/3/2008
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002695088 ActBlue Keeps the Money Coming] , CQ Today Online News, 4/1/2008
* [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/14/actblue_reports_raising_21_mil.html ActBlue Reports Raising $21 Million] , The Washington Post, 3/14/2008
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjRSgunB71g ActBlue Featured in Laura Flanders' Blue Grit] . New York: Penguin Books (2008), 165
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjRSgunB71g Maryland Congressional Candidate Donna Edwards On ActBlue] , Matt Stoller, www.openleft.com, 2/16/2008
* [http://www.forward.com/articles/12699/ Campaign Giving Online Challenges Influence of Major Communal Donors] , Jewish Daily Forward, 2/13/2008
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/us/politics/29actblue.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=ActBlue&st=nyt&oref=slogin&oref=slogin A Fund-Raising Rainmaker Arises Online] , The New York Times, 11/29/2007
* [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119092762951941696.html# ActBlue Reshapes How Smaller Races Get Financed] , The Wall Street Journal, 9/28/07
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denise-wheeler/actblue-putting-the-d_b_64370.html ActBlue: Putting the “D” Back in Democracy] , Huffington Post, 9/13/07
* [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/07/internet_based_pac_driving_democratic_push/ Internet-Based PAC Driving Democratic Push: Small Donors Fuel Big Support Drive] , The Boston Globe, 8/7/07
* [http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=67AA0E0E47F9F40E8AF16438A4F48C6C?diaryId=253 The Open Party Committee] , Open Left, 7/18/07
* [http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2007/07/debergalis.html Marketing Election '08: Q&A With Matt DeBergalis, ActBlue] , Fast Company, 7/07
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E0DB173FF931A25755C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink The Caucus: Money Focus] , The New York Times, 7/12/07
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001185_pf.html Donations Pooled Online Are Getting Candidates' Attention] , The Washington Post, 3/11/07
* [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1230439201.html?dids=1230439201:1230439201&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+11%2C+2007&author=Dan+Morain&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.21&desc=THE+NATION%3B+Small+Democratic+donors+have+an+online+pal%3B+ActBlue+makes+giving+easy%2C+and+it%27s+become+a+major+political+player.+Republicans+have+caught+on+to+the+idea ActBlue Makes Giving Easy, and it's Become a Major Political Player] , The Los Angeles Times, 3/11/07
* [http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/press-2251.html The New Rainmakers] , National Journal, 10/27/06
* [http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/7/16/2125/92207 ActBlue Is Top PAC for Democrats] , MyDD, 7/16/06
* [http://www.salon.com/src/pass/sitepass/spon/sitepass.html?http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/07/23/blog_money/At the Speed of Blog] , Salon.com, 7/23/04
* [http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/09/65082 ActBlue Lets Anyone Be PAC Man] , Wired, 9/28/04
* [http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/04146120.asp How to Pump Young Democrats’ Energy and Money into the Political Process] , The Boston Phoenix, 6/28/04

References

External links

* [http://www.actblue.com/about About ActBlue]
* [http://blog.actblue.com Official ActBlue Blog]
* [http://www.actblue.com/content/about#press ActBlue in the Press]