Pennsylvania Companies Aim to Redefine Small-Dollar Giving for 2020 Elections
Last week, on February 14, the Harrisburg-based political consulting firm MFStrategies and the Philadelphia-based creative technology firm Mainstream Media launched Dollars & Change (www.DollarsAndChange.org), a non-partisan platform that enables small-dollar donors to find and donate directly to candidates who share their views.
Dollars & Change is the only non-partisan website focused on small-dollar donors.
“We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built.” said Mainstream Media Principal Tom Sennett, “ Donors want to give to candidates who share their views, but don’t have an easy way to research the thousands of candidates running for office. We do all that work for them and are the only service that directly connects donors and candidates in this way.”
Marty Santalucia, Principal of MFStrategies, said, “The way donors give to campaigns is fundamentally changing; just last year, a record number of small-dollar donors contributed to candidates across the country. These donors will be even more important in 2020. We’re focused on helping small-dollar donors invest in candidates who share their views.”
Marty and Tom have been friends for over a decade and share a commitment to improving the democratic process by better connecting active citizens with candidates for public office.
Users of the website are matched on 8 general policy positions with their top candidates for federal and state office across the country. Then, after deciding how much to give, one click donates to all the candidates at the same time.
Currently Dollars & Change works with candidates for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and Governor. Dollars & Change hopes to expand to State Legislative races soon.
On the same day that Dollars & Change launched, DNC Chairman Tom Perez announced that small-dollar donor support will play a key role in determining which Democratic Presidential candidates will be able to participate in the primary debates.
Last month, the RNC announced a partnership between the RNC and two Republican data firms, DataTrust and Revv, to form Patriot Pass. Patriot Pass is expected to be the Republican solution to what the party has identified as a small-dollar donor deficit compared to Democrats and the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue.
Contact:
Marty Santalucia
marty@mfstrategies.com
Tom Sennett
istomsennett@gmail.com
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