Online political fundraising is where modern campaigns win or lose—it is how you turn digital attention into the steady voters you need to stay on the ballot. For small and local campaigns, a smart, integrated online program can now compete with—and sometimes beat—better‑funded opponents.

Campaigns are getting more expensive every cycle. The 2020 federal elections alone cost nearly 14 billion dollars, making them the most expensive in U.S. history and showing how fast the fundraising bar is rising. Instead of being overwhelmed by those numbers, you can use focused virtual fundraising tactics to reliably hit realistic budget goals for your race.​

Use the summary below to jump straight to the tactics that fit your campaign, or explore every section to build a complete digital fundraising plan you can start implementing this week.

What is online political fundraising?

Online political fundraising refers to raising campaign contributions through digital channels — including websites, email, SMS, social media, and specialized fundraising platforms. This approach goes beyond traditional in-person events, letting you connect instantly with supporters across the globe and convert interest into action.

For small and mid-sized campaigns, online fundraising is often the best scalable way to build a strong supporter base, especially when field time and staff are limited.

Why online political fundraising matters (especially for SMB campaigns)

Digital giving has surged over recent election cycles, with platforms reporting billions raised online for political and issue campaigns. In 2024 alone, about $619 millions were poured into online political ads on platforms like Google and Meta, much of it tied directly to fundraising pushes.

For SMB-sized campaigns, online fundraising is critical because:

• It reduces dependency on a few big supporters and builds a broad grassroots base.​
• It lets you test messages quickly, then scale what works instead of guessing where to spend.​
• It keeps your campaign running even when field events get rained out or news cycles shift.​

Core strategies for online political fundraising

1. Optimize your supporters experience

Your donation page is your most important digital asset.

💡 Best Practices:

• Prominent donate buttons on every page
• Mobile-first donation forms
• Quick checkout steps
• Suggested donation amounts
• Recurring donation options

Tools like Run! — a purpose-built campaign website builder that focuses on mobile-optimized, high-impact sites used by grassroots campaigns

Even on a smaller budget, your campaign can have the same sophistication.

2. Harness multichannel outreach for online political fundraising

Digital fundraising isn’t just about one channel — it’s about synchronized outreach. You can use these channels to improve your fundraising goal.

– Email: Segment supporters based on engagement and past behavior. Personalized asks with compelling stories outperform generic blasts.

– Calling: This adds a human touch, helping build trust and make personalized fundraising asks — especially as a follow-up to email or SMS.

– SMS: Text messaging is one of the fastest ways to drive action. With CallHub’s automated SMS campaigns, you can:

• Trigger messages based on behavior (e.g., keyword responses)
• Send instant donation links which are not just sent, but trackable
• Follow up automatically to boost conversions

Example: Your running a state representative’s campaign and sends a targeted text blast with a match-day donation incentive and sees a measurable uplift in contributions within hours — because the link is right there on the supporter’s phone.

3. Run virtual events that convert

Not all fundraising happens through donation forms. Virtual events allow you to raise money without geographic limits or high venue costs, a model that proved its value in recent cycles.​

a. Event formats that fundraise well
Town halls, policy deep dives, concerts, and Q&A sessions all translate well to livestreams and webinars. During the event, integrate live “Donate now” prompts, on-screen links, and chat messages pointing to your contribution form.

​ b. Pre- and post-event fundraising
Ticketed or suggested-donation registration can raise money before the event even begins. Afterward, send tailored follow-ups to attendees and no-shows with a recap and a clear ask tied to specific campaign needs

Take this example of what happened in 2024 when Vice President Harris’ campaign hosted a huge Zoom-based fundraising rally, which raised at least $1.5 million in three hours from supporters who engaged live online.

This kind of virtual event + live give prompt model is powerful — especially for races that can’t afford big physical events.

4. Leverage peer-to-peer texting for online political fundraising

If you are not leveraging peer-to-peer texting (P2P texting) for political fundraising online, you’re surely missing out on a lot. When you engage prospects in a conversation, they are more likely to contribute than when you make a direct ask without prior nurturing.

P2P texting, in simple terms, is one-on-one text conversations between your agents/volunteers and supporters. This is mediated by a text marketing platform that allows an agent to have multiple conversations simultaneously and makes these interactions scalable. 

On a popular P2P texting platform like CallHub, you can avail of the following features to make your conversations intriguing and extremely personalized:

• Merge tags and custom fields to address personal details such as the first name.
• Saved responses for frequently asked questions or anticipated replies.
• Sync up with your CRM to import and export data files.
• Scheduled follow-ups for non-delivered messages.

Check out CallHub’s P2P texting tool here.

Segment your list of supporters so the messages and links you share with each supporter are highly relevant to them. This way, you can increase the chances of them taking the action you ask for. 

5. Go social!

Your social media presence plays a large part in maintaining your party’s visibility throughout your campaign and beyond. 

Say you’re hosting a 24-hour political fundraising campaign. What’s the best way to keep a large group of people engaged throughout your campaign? 

Social media! 

You can do many things in a day while completely dedicating your social media page to your fundraiser. For example, go live, post video testimonials, give a shout-out to your volunteers for the day, etc.

Launching a full-day social media campaign requires significant preparation. Take all the help you can get to create the posts, film videos, and respond to comments throughout the day. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a US representative, shares frequent updates on social media. Here’s a video of her listing all the accomplishments from two years in 2-3 minutes. 

You can see that the video received over 11 million views and an astonishing engagement rate. Of course, the views and engagement will be proportionate to your follower count. But with paid ads and regular posting, you can improve it continually.

Here are some best practices for political fundraising leveraging social media:

1. Social media fundraising best practices:
2. Keep messaging consistent and goal-focused. Use strong content with quality visuals.
3. Run peer-to-peer campaigns so supporters fundraise within their networks.
4. Equip and motivate supporters with ready-made posts and public shout-outs.
5. Use contests or challenges to encourage sharing and expand reach

You can use organic and paid social media posts to:

• Encourage your supporters to donate.
• Sign up for other upcoming events.
• Lead them to your fundraising campaign’s landing page.

In all these cases, you are pushing your supporters one step closer to your political fundraising goals. Here’s a guide to help you use different social media platforms for your political campaign. 

Keep people engaged. Share progress updates. Stay focused on your goals. 

6. Use text-to-donate campaigns

A text-to-donate campaign is a sophisticated and effective virtual fundraising strategy. Invest in a texting tool to capitalize on this popular fundraising tactic. 

CallHub offers the tool you need to host a text-to-donate campaign. The platform is easy to use. While setting up your campaign, you need to choose a memorable keyword and a phone number and promote them on online and offline channels. 

Here’s how you set up a text-to-donate campaign on CallHub:

Step 1: Select ‘SMS opt-in campaign’ after logging in to your account. 

Step 2: Rent a phone number and a keyword of your choice (it will take a few days for the keyword to get approved, so it’s best to create the campaign ahead of time).

Step 3: Create a new contact list to save the contacts of people who opt-in or add them to an existing list. 

Step 4: Craft the message to be sent along with the donation page link after a donor texts you the keyword. 

Step 5: Hit ‘Finish’ and schedule the campaign in the following prompt. You can use your marketing channels and virtual events to promote your opt-in and fundraising details. 

The process at the supporter end goes like this:

Step 1: Your supporter texts the keyword to your campaign number.

Step 2: They then receive a text with the link to your support form/donation form

Step 3: The makes a donation with a preset or custom amount.

Which online political fundraising site is the best – digital?

Here are 5 political fundraising platforms that we recommend, along with the particular use each one has. Explore them and use the one that best suits your interests. If you have any other suggestions, please tweet them to us at @CallHub! 

1. PayPal

PayPal is a mobile-optimized digital fundraising site with multiple payment options to collect donations. The campaign donation website transfers funds to your account within a few minutes. The platform also offers a political fundraising tool with insights on every campaign contribution. 

The features include:

• Summary of your campaign account activity.
• Downloadable transaction information.
• Search feature to find records on a specific transaction.
• Multi-user access to the campaign’s transaction history.

Pricing: Pay when you get paid.

2. Qgiv platform for online political fundraising

Qgiv helps you quickly set up your political fundraising campaign forms and start collecting donations. The platform also offers management and reporting tools to track and improve your campaign’s performance.

With Qgiv, you can:

• Create multiple donation forms customized to your party’s brand style.
• Give your supporters the option to choose between one-time and recurring donations.
• Set contribution limits and disclaimers to your forms.

Pricing: Check their pricing page and talk to the sales team to find out what the pricing they provide based on your requirement.

3. Indiegogo

Indiegogo is similar one. The tool also integrates with platforms like Google and Facebook. 

Here are the 3 notable features:

1. Expert support and exclusive partnership.
2. Pre and post-campaign tools that help you beyond crowdfunding.
3. Flexibility to raise funds from anywhere in the world.

Pricing: Starts with $0/month + 2.9% + $0.3 per transaction.

4. Raise The Money

Raise The Money allows you to collect funds from your website, social media pages, and email links. The platform also offers a feature to accept recurring funds from the same supporter. 

Your funds are transferred to your bank account on the next day. It’s easy to set up, mobile-friendly, and provides instant, detailed reports. 

Pricing: 4.9% + $0.25  

Best practices checklist

Get Started!

In a recent mid-2025 primary, U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski raised over $560,000 online and through blended digital and in-person efforts, while her GOP counterpart collected strong online support via major platforms like WinRed — showcasing how diverse channels fuel fundraising succes.

Online political fundraising in 2025 isn’t just about having a donate button — it’s about crafting connected digital experiences that:

✔ Inspire first-time supporters
✔ Grow recurring support
✔ Amplify engagement across channels
✔ Make every interaction count

When election season is at its peak, you should have your political campaign fundraising ideas in action. With proper planning, you can launch a political fundraising campaign online that will engage your supporters and meet your goals. Here are some tools to help you manage your political campaign. 

We hope you’ve found the ideas you needed and are ready to get your fundraising team started!

For more inspiration, check out our top-performing grassroots fundraising strategies to help your funds account never go empty.

FAQs on online political fundraising

1. How do campaigns accept political donations online?

Campaigns use online donation platforms like ActBlue, WinRed, Donorbox, or Anedot and share donation links through email, SMS, and social media. Tools like CallHub help drive traffic to these links using targeted outreach.

2. What are effective online political fundraising ideas?

Text-to-donate campaigns, email appeals, virtual events, matching-gift drives, and recurring donations are some of the most effective options.

3. Which websites are best for political fundraising?

Popular platforms include ActBlue, WinRed, Donorbox, Anedot, and RaiseTheMoney, often paired with outreach tools like CallHub to increase donations.

Feature image: Photo by Monstera from Pexels.

Sindhu Prabhu

A marketer with 5+ years of experience. Loves sharing insights on making campaigns work better, connecting with your audience effectively, and using smart communication strategies that deliver results.