What happens to my money when I donate?

What Happens When You Give Through ActBlue? from ActBlue on Vimeo.

Campaigns and organizations use ActBlue as their online fundraising platform. When you donate on ActBlue, your money goes straight to the candidate or organization listed on the form! 

ActBlue contribution forms always list the groups they benefit so you will know where your money is going: 

If you donate to a federal campaign or organization, you can use the FEC’s website to confirm your donation. As required by federal law, ActBlue reports and itemizes (that means list the donor name & information) for every single federal donation that comes through our platform, including donations under $200. 

To confirm your donation, first go to the ActBlue committee overview. On the “Financial summary” page, click the link for “Itemized individual contributions” (the underlined dollar amount on the right).

This will bring you to a page of individual receipts. The “Recipient” column will list ActBlue because of our conduit structure.

To find your contributions, use the “Edit filters” menu on the left to search for your name (in the “Contributor Name or ID” field) or other identifying details. Please note that contributions will only show up once the reporting deadline is passed and the FEC has processed the data.

When you find your contribution, select the gray arrow to the right of the individual dollar amount to confirm the campaign or organization you donated to. In the window that opens on the right side of your screen, the campaign or organization will be listed under “Contribution information.”

When you give on ActBlue, there’s a 3.95% fee we pass on to the group you supported to cover processing costs. Completing a contribution involves costs related to processing your credit card. We’re legally required to pass along processing costs to the campaign so that we do not make in-kind contributions to them.

As a nonprofit, we use tips from donors to pay our bills.