What is ActBlue? Why does MVP use it for online donations? (Your questions answered.)
ActBlue is the most widely used digital platform for processing online donations by Democratic and progressive candidates and organizations, including MVP.
MVP receives online donations through ActBlue because it allows us to process gifts efficiently and move funds quickly to their destination.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about ActBlue:
All donations processed via ActBlue are subject to their 3.95% processing fee, which includes all credit card fees.
For gifts up to $10,000, we encourage you to give online — even with the processing fee, it's the most cost-efficient option for gifts at this size.
For gifts over $10,000, we recommend giving by check, ACH, or wire, to avoid online processing fees. See all donation methods here, or contact us at advisor@movement.vote.
Many political candidates, on the other hand, sadly do buy and sell donor lists. If you’ve ever given to a candidate and now get random political spam, this is likely why.
MVP believes these practices violate basic ethics, erode donor trust, and weaken the progressive movement. For these reasons, we abide by the simple principles of Ethical Email. (Take action here to protect your inbox and end unethical email practices.
The Trump administration has recently targeted ActBlue with politically motivated accusations and investigations. Naturally, this has led to questions about whether organizations can continue to rely on ActBlue and if data stored in ActBlue is at risk of disappearing.
MVP supporters should not unduly worry about these attacks. Here is why:
ActBlue is well-prepared legally and financially to counter these attacks, which will likely fail to hinder ActBlue operations.
Even if these attacks were maximally successful and ActBlue were somehow forced to shut down, this would not happen suddenly. There is little to no chance that MVP and other organizations that use ActBlue would suddenly lose access to past data on contributions or contributors.
MVP automatically and regularly backs up its ActBlue data in secure secondary systems as a matter of standard procedure. MVP has also prepared contingency plans to swiftly transition to alternative donation platforms if necessary.