Money Money Money

I'm continually blown away by the amount of money candidates and parties and outside interests can raise on the internet. After the recent kerfluffle about top Democratic fundraisers deserting the DNC because Howard Dean wasn't paying enough attention to them, Atrios put up a fundraising link to raise money for the DNC, with the message being that Dean still has significant fundraising prowess, even if it's not with the party's traditional high-dollar donors.

Between 9:00 on Wednesday evening and 1:15 Saturday afternoon, he and other bloggers linking to his DNC ePatriots page raised $53,925.72 from 1213 people. That's over $50,000 dollars in less than 72 hours, with an average donation of a little over $45 dollars. No plan for the money, or particular motivation, except to support Dean's chairmanship. And, of course, about 7 months after an incredibly expensive presidential campaign that raised record amounts of money from these same low-dollar donors.

$50,000 isn't a huge amount in politics, of course, but it's nothing to sneeze at, either. And the effortlessness with which it was raised is a key part of the efficiency of internet fundraising. No direct mail pleas, no fundraising dinners with bad catered food, no phone time, nothing. Just some computer servers and credit card processing fees.

The DNC deserves credit for enabling this sort of organizing and donating with its ePatriot pages, which allow people to set up their own fundraising pages to send friends and family to, and to track the amount of money they've raised. It's a good way to get people involved in the party, even if they're just raising a few hundred dollars from some friends. Or, if they have a widely read blog with readers who like Howard Dean!