We want to do our part to get Democrats elected. We are retired and on fixed income. We have....

[usaf-vet]

We want to do our part to get Democrats elected. We are retired and on a fixed income. We have....
..... always tried to support our local state candidates.

On September 3rd, we donated what we could afford through ActBlue it was a request to help 36(?) candidates. Two of them we recognized, so we donated.

Since that donation, I have received NO LESS than ten (10) requests from people I DO NOT KNOW from all over the country.

It is this SHARING of contact information that is annoying and leads us to ignore and trash emails from candidates we do not know them or their platforms.

At 74 and 75, my wife and I do not have the time to research where are limited resources go.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm sure it also angers other folks. Especially when we know that it's open the gateway for requests for the next TWO YEARS.

[Gaugamela]

1. It annoys me too. I immediately hit the unsubscribe button on the first

and every unwanted email. I know you shouldn’t have to go through this extra work when you’re the one going out of your way and donating in the first place, but what you gonna do? The good news is they respect all unsubscribe requests.

[brooklynite]

2. I'm guessing you're getting what you wanted.....

You don't want "fat cat" donors and PACs influencing the success of candidates, and this is how campaigns encourage the micropayments to replace them.

[usaf-vet]

5. I donate and that should be the end NOT sharing my contact info. Since the donation....

... I have received a dozen requests for money for people and places NOT running in my state elections.

I have made my last donation to ActBlue.

[brooklynite]

13. ActBlue has nothing to do with it...

They don't sell your contact information; the candidates do.

[orleans]

16. how do the candidates get it? nt

[brooklynite]

21. ActBlue provides it to the candidates; they need it for their FEC filings.

[Sogo]

3. I have put in recurring monthly donations in response to a few requests.

And I still get requests from those I donated to for MORE, plus floods of emails and texts from many others. It's obnoxious, but nothing I can do about it other than cancel my credit card (which I have done on other occasions)....

Once they have your email address and cell phone number, you're marked. Now, I just ignore them all.

[mahina]

4. I confess that I made a whole new email address just for donations

And I unsubscribed from a few this morning who I have donated to and who I will continue to donate to.

If any campaign people are around it doesn’t help when you ask me three times a day for money it just turns me off and makes me block you. Candidates, I will give you everything I can and I appreciate you running

[DBoon]

6. I get all kinds of solicitations

including requests to put up yard signs for elections on the other coast, invitations to fundraising events that are a 3 hour plane ride away, etc.

Just keep unsubscribing and eventually you will get much less.

[calguy]

7. When ever you donate anything to anyone...

Whether it be a political candidate or charitable organization, your name almost automatically gets shared or sold to every other candidate or organization also looking for funds from donors like you.

Once you've been identified as a "donor", everyone wants your money and you're on everyone's donor list. I have drastically cut my donations over the years because of this very reason. The donation market is an industry.

It pisses me off they can't just appreciate my donation, but have to sell my name to top of it.

[usaf-vet]

8. EXACTLY!! ActBlue is on my ignore list.

[MiniMe]

10. Don't they realize that people don't donate because of the multiple requests?

I stopped donating because of the selling of emails. I am still getting multiple emails from a donation several years ago.

[Hekate]

9. Every campaign season it's the same, & I end up with 40 a day. Just unsubscribe from them ALL...

Go to the very bottom of the page, blow up the tiny print so you can read it, and find “Unsubscribe.”

Some whine and plaintively want to know why. I actually have a canned response for that, sometimes including “I did not ask for this & you are making me mad.” Others just say the equivalent of, “Oh all right, we won’t.”

But it takes awhile. Just keep doing this every day for awhile.

[Timewas]

11. Exactly it

I made the mistake of donating a few years back and was almost immediately inundated with requests form all over the country... So I just unsubscribed from all of them and don't even read them anymore just delete the ones I get...

[catrose]

12. same situation here

I have given in the past, when I was working, so I've been unsubscribing to everything, which is like playing whack-a-mole, because they share addresses.

I just give "on a fixed income" as the reason for unsubscribing.

Only AOC ever gave any information I didn't know or might need--sometimes without a moneybeg, like how to apply for Covid funeral relief or buy cookies from the homeless Girl Scout troop in her district.

[Bayard]

14. I'm pretty tired of this too

Even with candidates I have donated to. Its like its never enough. I feel kind of bad when I unsubscribe, but I don't have time to delete 50 messages every time I open my email.

I'm sure its all computer generated anyway.

[fierywoman]

15. I haven't donated to anyone and yet I got requests from Dem candidates in a lot of

districts other than my own for $. It's complete madness. Just unsubscribe.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. In that situation, your info may have come from voter rolls

They are public information after all.
If you register by party in your state, it is really easy to sort the voter database to find all the Democrats and send them mail.

I only donate to individual candidates through their personal campaigns, not the groups and I only donate to folks I can vote for. I still get zillions of email requests, which I unsubscribe to.

You might be able to donate to an individual by check with a letter requesting your info not be shared.

[fierywoman]

18. Yeah, I figured I was hit on because I'm a life-time registered Democrat. nt

[yellowdogintexas]

22. the Democratic party has a data bank called VAN

which stands for Voter Access Network. Each state has its own version, which any candidate or organization can use.

I use the Texas VAN for precinct chair needs; when I log in, I can pull up the list of all registered voters, their voting histories, addresses, emails and phone numbers(if the voter has shared them. I have not found any info on donations in my database, but it is possible the national one does.

The two largest PACS most certainly share that information with every candidate, since a large number of the donations are made through them. Those lists NEVER go away.

Act Blue is not requesting or sharing information on its own, it is just a conduit, and is very useful for other things, like tickets to fundraisers, sales of merch, membership fees for clubs and related organizations. It simplifies bookkeeping for these small entities.

Your best options are: unsubscribe to everything that is out of your area and keep your donations off the internet. If you are donating to the candidates you can vote for, you can request your information not be shared.

[Raine]

19. Me too ... I don't know who they are, where they are or what they're running for

I'm sick of my time and my email being taken up with constant dunning for money. I've been on a no mercy unsubing spree and getting off those lists!

[Raine]

20. If I gave to all of them every time they ask I would be totally broke

and I doubt they would care as long as they get their money.

[Demsrule86]

23. Candidates need money and we want ours to win...that being said simply delete all...I don't

understand the anger about your own party asking for donations. We have no choice since Citizen United. I send what I can to who I think would be best helped and local candidates and then don't worry about it.