You want to know what it’s like to be a donor? I’ve been hearing all about it.
To start, these people are not so-called mega donors who are funding PACs to the tune of millions of dollars. The people I’ve raised money from, the ones who write generous checks, are not the slick, cigar-chomping, backroom deal types you might picture when you hear “big donor,” nor are they the modern-age silicon valley billionaires with a crypto agenda. These are regular Democrats who just want to see us win elections. They are not chasing ambassadorships or access. They simply see a uniquely dangerous moment in our democracy and want Republicans gone and are willing to put their money where their mouth is.
During the 2024 cycle, I raised over $500,000 from folks like that. We sent money to some of the most competitive races in the country. One congressional race we supported was won by fewer than 200 votes, another by fewer than 700 votes. You could argue the money we sent was critical for flipping multiple seats. That is the kind of impact these donors are having.
You’d think Democrats would want to build lasting relationships with these loyal party members, but instead they burn bridges for short-term cash; the floodgates open. Scammy PACs. Endless text messages. Grifts on grifts. It’s not even Labor Day, in *2025*, yet some of these donors have already gotten dozens of texts from PACs, from candidates, from basically anyone with a finance director and a CSV file. They have lamented to me that “every random Democrat running for Congress has my personal cellphone number.”
I asked them to look up how many political texts they had received, to check to see if they were being dramatic. Nope. 92 texts since July 1st. That is 92 texts in 52 days. Almost two a day. At this point, they do not even read them, they just reply “stop” like a robot. The next one still shows up anyway, like some political fundraising whack-a-mole.
And you know what it feels like? It feels like the party is punishing people for being generous. Instead of being appreciated, donors get shuffled around and sold from list to list like trading cards. Sure, I get it, it sounds a little ridiculous to complain especially on behalf of bigger donors. After all, replying “stop” to two texts per day isn’t exactly a crisis. Still, it’s symbolic of a bigger issue that is forming between Democratic voters and Democratic leaders: trust is eroding and resentment is building. I understand fundraising is critically important, and the new iOS update has everyone spooked about whether political texting will even work next year. But honestly, if we stop letting scam PACs rip off our voters, and stop utilizing alarmist tactics that come with diminishing returns and high churn rates, we will probably raise more money, not less, in the long-run.
Written by Isaac Kaufer, Eastern Region Vice President of the Young Democrats of America, Teasurer of the Young Democrats of Massachusetts, and delegate to the upcoming 2025 Massachusetts Democratic Party Convention.
Left of Center is a Democratic PAC run by professionals who rely on transparency, trust, ideas sharing, and proof of concept. The relationship with our supporters is a partnership. We value every cent received and target voters with cost-efficient maximum reach superior integrated field communications media and GOTV. When we step into a race we do so knowing many people expect us to put up an unrelenting fight with the intent to prevail. That is always been how we roll and that will never change.