A fight has broken out over two new Republican fundraising sites built to take advantage of GOP support for President Trump and down-ticket candidates and provide the party with platforms that can compete with the hugely successful Democratic site ActBlue.com
Just two weeks after Trump and the Republican National Committee establishment announced their new fundraising site WinRed.com as their joint fundraising platform for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a private site called Give.GOP was launched as another counter to ActBlue.com.
I am pleased to announce the launch of https://t.co/D1MY2aPC7f. This new platform will allow my campaign and other Republicans to compete with the Democrats money machine. This has been a priority of mine and I’m pleased to share that it is up and running! #KeepAmericaGreat
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019
Paul Dietzel, the founder of the site who has 10 years of online fundraising experience, said at the time that it provides a one-stop shop for conservative donors to use to help all sorts of races.
That makes it different than WinRed.com, which is used by campaigns to reach donors. The technology for Give.GOP is based on his Anedot, used by thousands of political campaigns and groups.
But the Trump team apparently sees it competing with WinRed, endorsed by the president and party officials.
Trump announced the site himself in a tweet in June. “I am pleased to announce the launch of http://tmagac.winred.com. This new platform will allow my campaign and other Republicans to compete with the Democrats money machine. This has been a priority of mine and I’m pleased to share that it is up and running! #KeepAmericaGreat,” he wrote.
Meet https://t.co/it3UPww5nR: A Revolutionary Online Fundraising Portal for Republican Donors https://t.co/0cI5LFX2ay via @Gabby_Hoffman pic.twitter.com/qBdzbzwSit
— The Resurgent (@resurgent) July 3, 2019
His campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said that party donors should stick to WinRed and avoid Give.GOP, warning that the dueling sites will lead to another GOP failure to tackle ActBlue.com head-on.
“This is the same kind of scheme that has prevented Republicans for having an answer to ActBlue for 15 years,” he told Secrets, adding, “There’s a reason President Trump and all the major GOP campaign committees are united behind WinRed: It has the best technology and data integration that will lift all conservative boats and actually help Republicans win in 2020.”
But Dietzel said that both have their advantages, and his helps campaigns receive all of the money donors give.
“Give.GOP is for grassroots donors, not consultants or campaigns. Give.GOP cuts out middleman fees, ensuring that 100% of a donor’s gift goes to the candidate (or candidates) they support,” he said. “This gives Republicans a 3-4% advantage over Democrats, which is substantial when hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in an election — perhaps billions in a presidential election year. When that money goes to candidates instead of the middleman, it could mean the difference between winning or losing the White House, or winning or losing a majority in Congress.”
