Democrats Reckon With Digital Fundraising Tactics Ahead of 2026

Locked out of power in Washington and struggling to map out a clear message for voters, a growing number of Democrats are rethinking their fundraising tactics ahead of the 2026 midterms. 

In fundraising text messages and emails, many candidates and committees are eschewing promises of dubious matching programs or warnings about nonexistent fundraising deadlines. Instead, they’re calling out what they say are misleading, or even outright dishonest, tactics that take advantage of grassroots contributors and ultimately erode donor trust.

At the same time, groups like the Democratic National Committee are taking a harder line on so-called “scam PACs,” groups that raise money under the guise of supporting candidates and causes, but instead divert the funds for personal use. 

Last week, the DNC sent a cease-and-desist letter to one such PAC, called National Democrats, accusing the group of “exploiting the goodwill of Democratic voters for personal profit.” ActBlue, the Democratic online fundraising clearinghouse, had removed National Democrats from its platform days earlier as part of a larger effort to crack down on bad actors in the digital fundraising ecosystem, Axios reported. 

In a fundraising email sent to supporters over the weekend, the DNC touted its effort to go after the PAC. At its core, the email reads, the cease-and-desist letter was about ensuring that grassroots donors are treated with respect.

“When you choose to chip in your hard-earned money to an organization or campaign, we know that’s a decision you don’t make lightly,” the email reads. “You deserve to know that your contribution is actually going toward electing Democrats. You’re not an ATM, and you don’t deserve to be treated like one.”

It’s not just the Democrats’ main party committee that’s begun calling out misleading fundraising tactics. Candidates and lawmakers, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Democratic House candidate Kat Abughazaleh, have railed against what they say are disingenuous fundraising pleas and encouraged other Democrats to follow suit.

One recent fundraising email from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., bore the subject line, “nothing will ever make us treat you like this,” before showing recipients screenshots of fundraising texts promising an “800% MATCH” on their contribution and warning that “our democracy will be ruined” if a donor doesn’t chip in.

Josh Nelson, the CEO of the progressive ad platform Civic Shout, said that deceptive and misleading fundraising tactics have been a problem in the broader fundraising ecosystem for years and that it’s going to take a concerted effort by Democratic candidates and committees to root out those practices.

“It’s great to see a growing number of Democratic campaigns and committees calling out their colleagues’ deceptive fundraising practices,” Nelson said. “It’s going to take all of us – candidates, consultants, vendors and donors – to clean up the digital fundraising ecosystem and put an end to exploitative fundraising texts and emails.”

Aside from just trying to crack down on bad actors, the efforts could help political fundraisers tackle a larger issue: donor burnout. 

As voter-outreach tools, like texting and email platforms, have proliferated over the past decade, many grassroots donors have soured on constant pleas for money. In many cases, those pleas come from candidates and committees that supporters signed up to receive communications from. In some cases, voters receive texts and emails from campaigns and groups that they never even knew existed. 

Either way, the barrage of fundraising communications has left many small-dollar donors feeling used, disrespected and annoyed. In an effort to combat that malaise, the Democratic-aligned PAC EMILY’s List began piloting a new program earlier this year allowing grassroots donors to sign up to give at least $15 a month in exchange for fewer fundraising pleas and access to exclusive content on the PAC’s Substack publication “Friends of the List.”

In an interview with Campaigns & Elections in April, Christen Sparago, the chief digital officer at EMILY’s List, said that it had become clear to the group that grassroots donors “needed a big-time break” from the tidal wave of fundraising texts and emails that have become commonplace in recent years.

She said that fundraisers instead need to reframe their work around the idea of building trust with donors.

“The future for the party is to have meaningful relationships,” Sparago said. “That’s what people are clamoring for and that’s what we’re trying to deliver.”