Small donor fatigue, major donor nerves | Wilnesh News

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is starting to see warning signs that the small donors who powered his last bid for the White House have slowed their support for the former president in 2024, according to people familiar with the matter. Presidential Contributions.

Members of Trump’s team have been warned since late last year republican party Advisors believe their base of small donations may be shrinking, sources said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity discussing internal campaign discussions.

Some were even told that the former president or his campaign might not be able to do much to win back these donors, these people explained.

Trump’s decline in small-dollar donors could be a major obstacle as the former president faces a well-funded incumbent, Democrat Joe Biden.

Evidence from earlier in the 2024 election cycle has Suggesting that Trump’s base of small-dollar donors (made up of donations of $200 or less) is eroding.

For example, Biden’s campaign declare It raised $10 million within 24 hours of the president’s State of the Union address on March 7. But those numbers won’t be disclosed to the FEC until next month.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign told New York Times That February was the strongest month for small donations so far in the 2024 campaign cycle. When CNBC asked a Trump spokesperson how much money had been raised, the campaign did not respond.

One thing no one disputes is that dollar donors are critical to Trump’s ability to raise enough money to fund his presidential campaign. During his failed re-election campaign in 2020, Trump raised $378 million through small donations, accounting for almost half of the total cash raised by Trump.

Much of this money was raised in the final year of the campaign. Between January 1 and December 31, 2020, Trump’s campaign raised more than $264 million from small backers.

Trump’s struggles with small-dollar donors so far this quarter may be due to donors not participating as much as they have in the past in his often bombastic online donor outreach. People familiar with Trump’s fundraising efforts acknowledge it could also be the result of donor fatigue after nearly nine years of helping Trump.

Republican leaders insist they have no such plans.but recent developments The Trump campaign and party insiders say donors’ concerns may be valid.

New Joint Fundraising Committee Trump 47 CommitteeThe plan distributes proceeds to the Republican National Committee, Trump’s campaign, state parties and, most importantly, Save America, the Trump-affiliated Leadership PAC that is working on the former president’s legal campaign in the second half of 2023. The bill cost $24 million.

The Republican National Committee did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment from the committee.

Joint fundraising committees like Trump 47 are allowed to accept nearly $1 million from each individual donor.

Biden and Democrats have a similar joint committee, and in January alone, at least five people wrote checks of more than $900,000 each for the effort, dubbed “Biden Victory.”

But beyond Trump’s long-time allies like veteran investors John Paulson and Howard LutnickTrump has yet to receive pledges or donations from many other wealthy Republicans, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Other major Republican donors who could end up backing Trump again include Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman and casino executive Miriam Adelson.

New York businessman Stephen Louro told CNBC he plans to host Trump at a fundraiser in the Hamptons later this year. The event will feature Trump and Republican lawmakers representing Long Island congressional districts. Loro said he plans to host jet suit demonstrations for guests at his home.

But Lurow represents a rare level of commitment among deep New York Republican donors.

There are currently very few fundraisers planned in the Empire State in the coming months to benefit the Trump campaign, a prominent political consultant told CNBC.

Trump is also expected to attend the annual Republican Party event in New York in April, according to people familiar with the matter. According to the invitation, the event will be attended by Republican Texas Governor Gregg Abbott and New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is Trump’s A long-time ally who could eventually become Trump’s running mate.

A Republican fundraiser and Trump ally said the former president’s busy court appearance schedule could also prevent him from attending events.

Trump “has to go to events (to raise money). If you’re in court, how do you get there?” the person asked. “The enthusiasm to vote for him is there. Maybe the enthusiasm in terms of donations may not be there.”

Earlier this year, trump card Threatened to blacklist donors to Haley’s campaign.

“From this moment on, anyone who makes a ‘contribution’ to (Hailey) will be permanently banned from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them and we won’t accept them,” he Written in the Truth Society January 24th.

But the threat only makes it harder for the Trump campaign to recruit former Haley donors to Trump’s team, some of whom they spoke to as recently as March 4.

So far, few of them have jumped from the Haley camp to the Trump camp.

In some cases, sources explained, they ruled out Trump entirely and pledged to either help Biden or raise money for Republicans locked in tight congressional races.

A former Haley fundraiser told CNBC how an investment banker explained to him that while the person was not a fan of Biden, they might not end up supporting Trump out of fear that the former president would explain These are things that could embarrass his wealthy supporters.

Haley’s former fundraising adviser also described how the CEO of a major investment advisory firm told him they did not want to donate to Trump or the Republican National Committee for fear of embarrassment about being publicly associated with the former president.

Trump allies still hope to recruit billionaire investor and former Haley supporter Paul Singer, people familiar with the matter said. According to FEC filings, Singer donated $5 million to a super PAC backing Haley in December.

But according to a person familiar with the matter, Singer has not yet decided whether to support Trump. Members of Singer’s donor group, the American Opportunity Alliance, will hold a dinner in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to discuss “the future of conservatism,” according to a person familiar with the matter.

Singer’s allies may be there to discuss whether to start helping Trump with their wallets. It was unclear Monday whether Singer planned to attend the dinner.

The difficulties facing Trump’s online and overall small-dollar fundraising efforts were clear to some of Trump’s advisers ahead of the Republican National Committee’s recent meeting in Houston, according to Republican fundraisers.

Less than a year ago, on April 4, 2023, Trump raised nearly $4 million online, the day he pleaded not guilty to his crimes.This is reportedly the first indictment in New York on charges of falsifying business records Politico.

At the time, it was Trump’s best online fundraising day of the year. “The first indictment was huge for everyone,” the fundraiser explained, referring to Trump’s small online fundraisers.

Fast forward to June 13, and Trump is in court over his handling of classified government records. That day, the former president raised just $1.3 million from more than 35,000 donors.

On Wednesday, newly elected Republican National Committee co-chair Laura Trump committee says It just had “the biggest digital fundraising weekend of 2020” after she and Trump ally Michael Whatley were elected as committee chairs.

However, the strong weekend is rare for Trump’s online donations so far this cycle, including through the first quarter of 2024, according to Republican fundraisers.

“It’s a big day with new leadership at the RNC. And then it’s back to doing something.”,“The person said.