Memo: Priorities USA Hits $111 Million in Contributions and Commitments; $28 Million Raised in January
In early 2019, we set an ambitious goal of spending $100 million before the Democratic Convention, helping to fill the gap while most of the Democratic Party is focused on choosing a nominee. At the end of January 2020, Priorities USA has now hit $111 million in contributions and commitments, exceeding our entire initial spending goal. In January alone, we raised over $28 million, our second best month ever behind only October 2016. This fundraising success has allowed us to increase our pre-convention budget to $150 million. Thanks to the support of our donors, Priorities is well-positioned to continue taking a leading role in the general election campaign against Donald Trump until a Democratic nominee for president has been selected.
Across all three of its entities (Priorities USA, Priorities USA Action and Priorities USA Foundation), Priorities has raised about $86.9 million since the start of 2019. This amount significantly outpaces the $50 million Priorities had raised at this point in the 2016 cycle. While Priorities has begun spending significantly earlier than during the 2016 cycle, we have more cash on hand to end January 2020 than we did to end January 2016.
- Total Raised and Committed Across Priorities Entities Through January 2020: $111 million
- Total Raised: $86.9 million
- Total Committed: $24 million
- Total Raised Across Priorities Entities 2019: $58.5 million
- Total Raised Across Priorities Entities January 2020: $28.4 million
- Priorities USA Action Raised Through January 2020: $22.3 million
- Cash On Hand Across Priorities Entities at End of January 2020: $49.8 million
Executing A Comprehensive General Election Campaign Against Donald Trump
Recognizing the need for early investment, Priorities has spent the last 13 months building the infrastructure required to win and hold President Trump accountable. Since July 2019, Priorities USA has single-handedly outspent Donald Trump online in the key states of Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. At the end of 2019, Priorities expanded its digital program to target Arizona, where we are already outspending Trump, as well as Latino voters in English and Spanish in Arizona and Florida, the only national program of its kind. Priorities also ran a $4 million mobilization program in local races ahead of the 2019 elections to increase the likelihood that Democratic voters will turn out this year. This month, Priorities placed digital & TV reservations totaling $70 million between now and the convention in July.
We combined our TV and digital into one department, built a larger opposition research team than ever before, brought our digital media buying in-house alongside the in-house creative team, and created an in-house analytics department that allows us to test every piece of creative we run and make data-driven decisions about where and when our ads are running. For the first time, Priorities has communications staff on the ground in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin working to hold Trump accountable on the kitchen table issues that matter to voters.
Additionally, Priorities has been working to coordinate the campaign against Donald Trump and share our resources with the progressive community by leading digital ads trainings across the country that have trained over 220 progressives across 9 states and creating a new Political Department that has already coordinated with over 100 other organizations to strengthen and amplify each other’s work. We have released regular battleground polls helping our allies with strategic message guidance and analyses of Democrats’ path to 270 electoral votes.
Voting Rights
Separate from the political work we do, the Priorities USA Foundation and Priorities USA have funded millions of dollars of voting rights work. Over the last decade, laws that suppress the right to vote have swept the country. These attacks extend beyond voter ID laws to include the elimination of early voting locations, days, and hours, the consolidation of polling places in marginalized communities, regulations that make it more difficult to cast an absentee ballot, and administrative actions by election officials that prevent citizens from participating in our democracy.
Our voting rights program is aimed at fighting these threats. A central component of the program includes an aggressive effort to overturn or clarify existing laws by utilizing the judicial system and mounting successful litigation efforts. The program has led 18 legal challenges and secured wins in Wisconsin, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, and New Hampshire.
Our renewed focus will ensure that every qualified citizen has the unobstructed right to have their voices heard at the ballot box.