The Washington Post analyzed the nature of candidate’s claims of small dollar donations in a recent article. They looked at first quarter filings with the FEC.
Donations can be made up to $2,800 per person per election. Therefore it is a positive sign to have large numbers of donors who donate less than $200. It means they aren’t maxed out yet and can be asked for additional donations at a later time.
As you can see from the chart there’s a large difference between say Bernie Sanders and Cory Booker. Booker only received 16% of his donations at $200 or less whereas Sanders received 84% of his donations at $200 or less.
This chart excludes PAC money. It will be interesting to see this chart later in the campaign when PACs start donating.
By request, here’s more information on total dollars raised courtesy of Axios.
1. President Donald Trump
- Total contributions (including campaign committees): $30,304,180
- Total spent: $8,834,888
- Cash on hand: $40,762,192
- Burn rate: 29.2%
- Declared candidacy: Jan. 20, 2017
2. Sen. Bernie Sanders
- Total contributions: $18,186,300
- Total spent: $5,026,076
- Cash on hand: $15,661,950
- Burn rate: 24.29%
- Declared candidacy on Feb. 19, 2019
3. Sen. Kamala Harris
- Total contributions: $12,040,463
- Total spent: $4,285,426
- Cash on hand: $8,958,124
- Burn rate: 32.36%
- Declared candidacy: Jan. 21, 2019
4. Beto O'Rourke
- Total contributions: $9,373,261
- Total spent: $2,511,055
- Cash on hand: $6,862,205
- Burn rate: 26.79%
- Declared candidacy: March 14, 2019
5. Pete Buttigieg
- Total contributions: $7,087,894
- Total spent: $685,294
- Cash on hand: $6,405,929
- Burn rate: 9.66%
- Declared exploratory committee: Jan. 23, 2019
6. Sen. Elizabeth Warren
- Total contributions: $6,022,212
- Total spent: $5,267,561
- Cash on hand: $11,215,190
- Burn rate: 31.96%
- Declared candidacy: Feb. 9, 2019.
7. Sen. Amy Klobuchar
- Total contributions: $5,233,125
- Total spent: $1,849,949
- Cash on hand: $6,982,373
- Burn rate: 20.5%
- Declared candidacy: Feb. 10, 2019
8. Sen. Cory Booker
- Total contributions: $5,103,710
- Total spent: $1,792,193
- Cash on hand: $6,131,010
- Burn rate: 22.62%
- Declared candidacy: Feb. 1, 2019
9. Kirsten Gillibrand
- Total contributions: $2,997,884
- Total spent: $2,433,078
- Cash on hand: $10,168,502
- Burn rate: 19.3%
- Declared candidacy: March 17, 2019
10. Gov. Jay Inslee
- Total contributions: $2,256,655
- Total spent: $843,774
- Cash on hand: $1,412,880
- Burn rate: 37.39%
- Declared candidacy: March 1, 2019
11. Former Gov. John Hickenlooper
- Total contributions: $2,018,752
- Total spent: $685,513
- Cash on hand: $1,335,168
- Burn rate: 33.92%
- Declared candidacy: March 4, 2019
12. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
- Total contributions: $1,950,149
- Total spent: $1,706,543
- Cash on hand: $2,789,225
- Burn rate: 37.96%
- Declared candidacy: Jan. 11, 2019
13. Andrew Yang
- Total contributions: $1,778,884
- Total spent: $665,965
- Cash on hand: $1,151,701
- Burn rate: 37.44%
- Declared candidacy: Nov. 6, 2017
14. Marianne Williamson
- Total contributions: $1,544,697
- Total spent: $997,471
- Cash on hand: $549,503
- Burn rate: 64.48%
- Declared candidacy: Jan. 28, 2019
15. Julián Castro
- Total contributions: $1,100,641
- Total spent: $625,496
- Cash on hand: $677,654
- Burn rate: 56.83%
- Declared candidacy: Jan. 12, 2019
16. Former Rep. John Delaney
- Total contributions: $404,301
- Total spent: $1,844,452
- Cash on hand: $10,567,864
- Burn rate: 15.19%
- Declared candidacy: July 28, 2017
Sorry its so small but here’s a combo chart. It shows total amount raised and what percentage of that is from contributions of $200 or less. Link to this full size chart is here.