Open Secrets: Several Presidential Campaigns Rev Small-Dollar Donor Engines, While Others Sputter

During the first months of his re-election campaign, Obama raised about 47 percent of his total funds from small-dollar donors, according to a Center for Responsive Politics review of new paperwork filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

In all, Obama reported raising $46.3 million between April and June. Of that, $21.65 million came from individual donors who gave him $200 or less — the Federal Election Commission’s threshold for itemized reporting.

This sum came as the Obama campaign launched new incentives for small-dollar donors, such as the chance to dine with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Less dramatic but plenty popular are coffee mugs and t-shirts with an image of Obama’s long-form birth certificate and the text "made in the USA" next to Obama’s smiling face.

Nearly 60 cents out of every dollar Obama raised during the 2008 election cycle came from individuals who gave less than $1,000 — a combined sum of more than $427 million out of Obama’s nearly $750 million war chest, according to research by the Campaign Finance Institute. 

On Friday, his campaign announced that more than 200 bundlers collectively raised tens of millions of dollars on Obama’s behalf between April and June, as OpenSecrets Blog previously noted. His campaign also benefited from the transferring of $12.75 million from a joint fund-raising account set up to aid both Obama and the Democratic National Committee. 

Only 1 percent of the money raised by this joint fund-raising committee during the second quarter, which is called Obama Victory Fund 2012, came from small-dollar donors who gave $200 or less, according to the Center’s review of recently filed campaign finance documents.

Earlier this week, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina announced that more than half a million individuals had donated to either the Obama campaign or Obama Victory Fund 2012 between April and June.

Meanwhile, Obama’s would-be Republican challengers are trying to mobilize their own grassroots supporters.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich all reported collecting between 45 percent and 55 percent of their funds during the second quarter from donors who gave $200 or less. 

Paul collected about $2.3 million from small-dollar donors, according to the Center’s research, while Cain raised about $1.1 million and Gingrich raised $921,000.

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), meanwhile, raised about $140,000 from individuals who contributed $200 or less — about 24 percent of his overall haul. And former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty collected about $429,000 from such donors, about 10 percent of his total second-quarter funds raised.

GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, actually, lagged far behind all other Republican candidates in terms of money from small-dollar donors. 

While leading all GOP candidates is overall money raised, Romney’s campaign collected just 6 percent of its second-quarter funds from donors who gave $200 or less — $1.1 million out of $18.38 million.

Towering head and shoulders above the other GOP candidates in terms of money raised from small-dollar donors in terms of a percentage of their total takes is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.

Bachmann, who officially announced her presidential campaign in June and has taken an early lead in recent polls in Iowa, reported $1.6 million in new contributions during the second quarter. Of these, two-thirds — more than $1 million — came from small-dollar donors. 

Bachmann also reported transferring $2 million from her House campaign committee into her nascent presidential account, which she has also fueled with small-dollar supporters. 

During the first three months of the year, about three-fourths of the money Bachmann had raised from her House campaign committee had come from small-dollar donors. And during her 2010 re-election campaign, Bachmann raised nearly 90 percent of her $13.5 million war chest from donors giving $200 or less.

Gary Jacobsen, a political science professor at the University of California-San Diego, said he wasn’t surprised at the levels of small-dollar donations for most of the GOP candidates at this stage of the race.

"My guess is they haven’t focused on that kind of fund-raising yet," Jacobsen told OpenSecrets Blog. "You have to have an organization in place with a lot of money to do that kind of fund-raising."

It remains to be seen whether Bachmann’s small-donor army will be able to match the deep pockets of Romney and his wealthy supporters. 

Whoever becomes the GOP presidential nominee is expected to need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to prevail in the primaries. During the 2008 presidential contest, Romney raised $107 million in his unsuccessful bid, including about $45 million of his own money.

At the end of June, Romney had roughly four times as much cash on hand as Bachmann. And Obama had roughly three times more than Romney.