Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced it raised $364.5 million in August, an astonishing haul that Democrats believe was propelled by fundraising around the selection of California Senator Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate and the Democratic convention. The Biden campaign said that 57% of the haul, or more than $205 million, came from online, small-dollar donors, a figure that signals the Democratic base is animated by the Biden-Harris ticket and the prospect of defeating President Donald Trump in November. The Biden campaign claimed in its announcement that the haul represents “the best month of online fundraising in American political history.” “In August, together, we raised $364.5 million,” Biden said in an email to supporters. “That figure blows me away.” Biden said his campaign “raised it the right way, from people across the country stepping up to own a piece of this campaign, investing in the future we want to see for our kids and grandkids.” The Trump campaign has yet to release their August fundraising totals.
It was clear in August that the month would be a strong one for Joe Biden, as sources told CNN on August 1 the campaign was set to announce they raised more than $310 million. The campaign said earlier that month that they raised more than $34 million in the two days after Harris was named as Biden’s running mate. And the campaign said that they raised $70 million during the four days of the Democratic National Convention. The fundraising haul is a significant swing for Biden, who entered 2020 with a substantial fundraising disadvantage and had at-times anemic fundraising numbers during the Democratic primary. That changed once the primary ended and Democrats coalesced around Biden, allowing him to sign a joint fundraising agreement with the Democratic National Committee and significantly increase the max donations that could be given to his campaign.
Joe Biden, after a handful of good fundraising quarters, began closing the cash on hand gap with the Trump campaign this summer. Despite President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee outraising Biden and the Democratic National Committee in July, $165 million to $140 million, the Democrats ended that month with $294 million in the bank, just $6 million less than the $300 million Trump and the RNC reported having on hand. The Biden campaign did not release their cash on hand numbers on September 2, but the record-breaking haul, combined with the campaign not spending nearly as much as past campaigns on travel, makes it likely that Biden’s operation will surpass Trump’s money in the bank this month. Biden’s haul also dwarfs what the presidential candidates raised in August 2016, with Trump bringing in $90 million and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raising $143 million that month. Clinton’s haul, at the time, was her campaign’s fundraising record.
