The former president is spending significantly more than before on prospecting to expand his donor pool.
Fundraising by former President Donald Trump’s primary political group briefly quadrupled for a few days after the FBI searched his South Florida property in August. But the group also reported a significant increase in fundraising expenses during the third quarter, according to a POLITICO analysis of new campaign finance filings.
The data provides further evidence of how law enforcement’s decision to seize classified documents from Trump’s resort energized the former president’s base. And it shows how the former president’s political operation is churning through the GOP’s small-donor pool at an accelerating pace as a potential comeback campaign draws near.
The Save America Joint Fundraising Committee reported just over $24 million raised in the third quarter of 2022, up from $17 million in the second quarter. Nearly 20 percent of the group’s third-quarter fundraising came in the week after the Aug. 8 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. That includes $2.2 million that came in on Aug. 9 and 10 alone, according to a new campaign finance report from WinRed, the online fundraising conduit used by Save America and numerous other Republican groups.
Previous reporting indicated that Save America received a surge in donations in August, but the specific amount was unknown.
The joint fundraising committee has been Trump’s primary vehicle for raising money from donors since launching in February 2021. It gathers money for two groups — Save America and Make America Great Again PAC — that have helped cover some of Trump’s legal bills this year, paid for costs associated with his rallies, backed his preferred candidates in primaries and made campaign contributions.
Trump remains the GOP’s best online fundraiser, with his joint fundraising committee bringing in more via WinRed than any other group during the third quarter, according to filings. But the committee also significantly increased its spending on categories linked to fundraising in order to do it, growing its donor base — but at significant cost.
The group, which often sends several text messages a day, spent more than $7 million on SMS advertising in the third quarter, according to its campaign finance filing, along with another $7 million on online advertising and $2.8 million on list rentals.
“MAR-A-LAGO was RAIDED,” read one text sent late in the evening on Aug. 8, hours after news broke of the FBI’s search. “America is corrupt. We must return the power to the people. Will you fight with me?” The text included a link to donate to the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee.
The three expenses — texting, online advertising and list rentals — together offset about 70 percent of what the joint fundraising committee raised this quarter. They also accounted for a significantly greater use of funds that the group had put toward those same purposes previously. In each of the first two quarters, it put only $3.5 million toward SMS advertising, for example, according to FEC reports. Its spending on list rentals had not previously exceeded $1 million in a single quarter.
A Trump spokesperson noted the tactic had helped Save America grow its list of donors. About 30 percent donors who gave to the former president’s group in the third quarter had not previously made contributions on WinRed in 2021 or the first half of 2022, according to a POLITICO analysis of WinRed’s filing.
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NEW: campaign finance data shows how Trump's Save America group saw a surge in donations post-Mar-a-Lago search — but also spent A LOT more on texting/advertising in Q3. His camp says it was reaching new donors (aka list-building) >> https://t.co/NS35CYi6Eb
— Jessica Piper (@jsscppr) October 19, 2022
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