3/18/24: SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST.
I didn't want to write this blog post for several reasons: First, because I'm not generally a fan of "name and shame" posts. Second, because doing so will embarrass a state legislative candidate who seems to be a pretty decent person. Third, because the North Carolina Democratic Party seems to be on the cusp of a major comeback, with a strong slate of candidates for both statewide and legislative offices as well as a new, energetic young state party chair who seems to be a breath of fresh air.
And if the resolution to the incident of March 8th had been the end of the story, I would have let sleeping dogs lie. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
At 11:12am on Friday, March 8th, I received the following email from a campaign staffer for a state legislative candidate running in North Carolina (name/campaign redacted for the moment, though this might change). It's important to note that they also cc'd ActBlue support with this initial contact:
Subject: Please Remove 'ncblue24' Contribution Form
Hello:
Per the above subject, please remove the extra contribution page.
The following was not requested to be included:
Managed by you (2) Managed by other groups (0) Managed by supporters (1) ....this is where your new form resides, which is not needed.
Please remove ncblue24 form. This is noticed when searching for [CANDIDATE NAME REDACTED] & then when you click on his name, it resolves to the contribution link.
Actual contributors making a contribution to "committee-to-elect-XXXXXXX" or Balance is Better for ALL!!, (https://secure.actblue.com/donate/committee-to-elect-XXXXXXXor https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXX, or when clicking on his website: https://XXXXXXXXX.com/) actually believe they are making a contribution to XXXXXXXXX------NOT the NC Democratic Party, to which they are being misled.
I'm not able to find an actual 'delete' button under action for this ncblue24 form.
(STAFFER NAME REDACTED)
I read over this a few times, puzzled as to what exactly the complaint was. It's a bit confusing, but they seem to be claiming that people trying to make donations to this candidate via my NC Legislature fundraising page are somehow being "misled" into thinking that all of it will go to this candidate instead of being evenly split by default among all of the candidates listed on the page (as well as the NC Democratic Party, the NC Senate Democrats and the NC House Democrats).
There is literally no possible way for that to happen for several reasons:
-
The teaser graphic (see here) clearly displays every candidate on the page as well as the party funds, and the text specifically says "donate to these (multiple) candidates:"
2. When you actually visit the page itself, it clearly states that...
By default, donations made on this page will be split among the boldfaced funds below. However, you can also pick & choose who to donate to using the "Customize Amounts" tool:
3. Below this is a full list of all of the candidates who donations are split across.
4. ActBlue itself automatically again generates similar text under the "Split your donation" section:
5. When you click the "Customize Amounts" tool, a list of all of the campaign funds appears, allowing you to easily change the amounts which go to each candidate and/or fund.
Now, I've had other campaign/party staffers contact me in the past to ask me who I was, why I was raising money for them, etc...that's understandable since there are indeed a number of scammers out there who try to appropriate campaigns in order to grift off of them, etc. Campaign finance laws can be tricky and there's nothing wrong with checking into unexpected donations to make sure they're legitimate, etc.
HOWEVER, every other time this has happened, the staffer contacted me first and after I explained who I am and reassured them, they've thanked me for my efforts. In one or two cases they've still politely requested that I remove their candidate from the page because they don't have the manpower to keep track of lots of tiny microdonations or for other understandable reasons.
In this case, not only did this staffer ask me to remove the entire fundraising page (for every candidate), they actually submitted an incident report to ActBlue as well, which means there was now a "Trouble Ticket" in the system.
Remember, I'm not getting paid to do this, and not one dime of the funds I'm raising goes to me...yet here's a staffer for a Democratic candidate who I'm raising money for falsely accusing me of "misleading" donors.
I responded to the email:
Hi, I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying here.
If someone searches for “XXXXXXXXXX” in the ActBlue directory, it only brings up one result…his direct campaign donation page, not my slate page:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXX
A search for “XXXXXXXXXXXXX” in Google doesn’t bring up any ActBlue pages whatsoever (though it does list his campaign website…which has a donation link which once again goes directly to his specific fundraising page:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXXXX
My North Carolina fundraising slate page is literally called “North Carolina Blue ’24” and clearly lists every candidate and fund which donations are split across (of which XXXXXXXXX is one, as is the North Carolina Democratic Party, the NC House Democratic Caucus & the NC Senate Democratic Caucus). Even the social media graphic includes images of every candidate & fund listed on the fundraising page:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ncblue24
There is no possible way that anyone could visit this page and think that donations made there only go to XXXXXXXXX
If XXXXXXXXX campaign doesn’t want to be included on this page I’ll be happy to remove him from it, but it seems completely nonsensical to demand that the entire page be removed, especially when the sole reason for it existing is to help North Carolina legislative Democrats.
Please advise/clarify, thank you.
—Charles Gaba
I also decided to contact the campaign to try and clear this up with the staffer directly. I called the phone number on the campaign website...except that it was the actual candidate himself who answered.
He and I had a nice conversation--I explained who I was, why I was calling and even walked him through the donation page. He agreed that everything looked fine to him, thanked me for my efforts, and promised that he'd speak to the staffer, who he described as "very headstrong." Just so.
Now, the good news is that ActBlue themselves responded a few hours later to both the staffer and myself, patiently and politely explaining to the staffer that she was completely out of line and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with my setting up or promoting the NC slate page the way I've done:
Hailee (ActBlue)
Mar 8, 2024, 1:23 PM EST
Hi XXXXX and Charles,
Thanks for reaching out, and I apologize for any confusion here!
XXXXX, I just went ahead and sent an additional email with information about Community Forms and where you can locate their fundraising data within your Dashboard in our separate thread - please feel free to follow up there with any additional questions!
Additionally, taking a look on our end, I can confirm that the XXXXXXXXXX campaign was added to Charles' community form, ncblue24, which fundraises for several candidates and organizations on ActBlue. To provide additional context here, when multiple recipients are listed on a single contribution form, we refer to this as Tandem Fundraising. Any funds raised through a Tandem form are split amongst the recipients listed on the contribution form.
You can read more about Tandem fundraising through community forms here: https://support.actblue.com/donors/raising-money-for-campaigns-and-organizations/can-i-fundraise-for-more-than-one-candidate-or-group-using-the-same-contribution-form/.
Additionally, I can confirm that when donors search for XXXXXXXXXX using the ActBlue Directory, they are directed to the campaign's default contribution form: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXX.
Lastly, if you'd like for the XXXXXXXXXX campaign to be removed from this Community Form, please let Charles know, and they'll be able to make that change on their end!
If you have any additional questions, please follow up in our separate thread, and we'll be happy to help!
I also received a public apology/thank you from NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton in response to my intial Twitter thread about this silliness:
Now, the polite thing for the staffer to do at this point would be to email me to apologize for the misunderstanding on her part and thank me for helping her candidate raise money.
Instead, I didn't hear a peep from her for three days, which is a bit rude but...whatever; so be it.
I considered the matter closed.
Until this evening...when I received the following email from the staffer (which, I should note, she AGAIN cc'd ActBlue with, even though she completely ignored their prior response which had already clarified all of her concerns in no uncertain terms):
If someone searches for “XXXXXXXXXX” in the ActBlue directory, it only brings up one result…his direct campaign donation page, not my slate page:
In the attachment, the instructions relay whether his name, in the search field, is either found by pressing enter (https://secure.actblue.com/directory?query=XXXXXXXXXX) or selecting his name from the pull down option. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXXXX
This is resolved when you type in his name and select from the pull down option.
A search for “XXXXXXXXXXXXX” in Google doesn’t bring up any ActBlue pages whatsoever (though it does list his campaign website…which has a donation link which once again goes directly to his specific fundraising page: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXXXX
My North Carolina fundraising slate page is literally called “North Carolina Blue ’24” and clearly lists every candidate and fund which donations are split across (of which XXXXXXXXX is one, as is the North Carolina Democratic Party, the NC House Democratic Caucus & the NC Senate Democratic Caucus). Even the social media graphic includes images of every candidate & fund listed on the fundraising page: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ncblue24
How many of the candidates, (whose names are listed) agreed to 'splitting contributions' and are aware of this?
There is no possible way that anyone could visit this page and think that donations made there only go to XXXXXXXXXX
There might be some contributors who actually didn't pay any attention to whom they were contributing on that page!
If XXXXXXXXXX campaign doesn’t want to be included on this page I’ll be happy to remove him from it, but it seems completely nonsensical to demand that the entire page be removed, especially when the sole reason for it existing is to help North Carolina legislative Democrats.
Please remove/update that link and replace it with: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/XXXXXXXXXXX
Before I even get to the file attachment she sent, let's count the ways she's utterly clueless:
- I have no control over how ActBlue's search field operates, and she openly admits that searching for his name only brings up his official donation link anyway.
- There's nothing to be "resolved" here...you search for his name, it brings up the link to donate to him specifically, what's the problem?
- She asks how many of the candidates "agreed" to be on the slate page and whether they're aware of it. I have no idea, and what of it? If they want their name removed for some reason (why???) all they have to do is ask.
- It is LITERALLY impossible to get all the way through the entire donation process on that page without being aware that the donation will be split. There are literally FIVE CLEAR AND UNMISTAKABLE NOTICES about it along the way. You'd have to be deliberately obtuse to successfully do so.
- There's no way for me to "remove or update the link" the way she's asking me to do, and even if there was there's no chance in hell that I would do so.
OK, let's look at the file attachment she sent (yes, I've revealed that it's a male candidate and a female staffer; make of that what you will). It's pretty lengthy and includes some of the steps noted in the email itself, but the bottom line is that THIS is the source of her problem:
That's right: She honestly thinks that someone who clicks through a 3-4 different searches & links will see the "North Carolina Blue '24" page listed at the bottom among "Who's Supporting XXXXX," will then click that link, be taken to a page which clearly states that donations will be split across over 2 dozen candidates by default, gives explicit instructions how to allocate donations differently, and will somehow still be "misled" when their donation is...split across over 2 dozen candidates.
I kept my response to the staffer short and to the point:
XXXXX—
Since you clearly don’t understand how ActBlue works in spite of their support staffer Hailee politely spelling it out for you, here’s what I’m going to do:
I’m going to remove your candidate, XXXXXXXX XXXXX, from my North Carolina legislature fundraising page. This will instantly resolve your concerns.
I’ve only raised about $80 for him so far, but if I had kept him on the page I likely would have raised up to $5,000 for him by November had I kept him on the page (the average I raised for Virginia legislative candidates last year was round $3,400 apiece).
It’s a shame, too, as Mr. XXXXX himself seemed like a decent person when I spoke to him about this the other day.
Have a good day,
Charles Gaba
UPDATE: Just to give you an idea of how insanely misguided this staffer is about how ActBlue works, using her logic, every one of these ActBlue pages is also "misleading" people:
- Joe and Kamala's American democracy cares for all of us.
- Statewides Blue in '24!
- It's Official! President Joe Biden & VP Kamala Harris are running!!
- Donate to Biden-Harris 2024!
- Donate to Biden-Harris 2024!
- The easiest way to defeat the far right in 2024.
- KY, LA & MS Blue in '23!
- Virginia Blue in '23!
- U.S. House Blue in '24!
- Join Adopt a Democrat. Help us fight back against the GOP, and Keep the White House in '24
- DONATE NOW TO HELP DEMOCRATS WIN IN 2024!
- Are you Ridin' with Biden 2024?
- #NeverTrump
- Reelect Biden Harris to Stop the MAGA Anti-woman Agenda!
- Joe Biden & Kamala Harris for America 2020
- Reelect Biden Harris to Stop the MAGA Anti-woman Agenda!
- Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for America
- Support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris With An Early Donation
- Support President Biden and Katherine Clark today!
- Joe Biden is READY.
- Let's Make Biden-Harris the Winners Tonight with Big Fundraising Numbers
- Beat Trump in 2024
- Help Joe Biden win!
- Let's Create a Gigantic Blue Wave to Elect Democrats Everywhere!
- Let's Make Biden-Harris the Winners Tonight with Big Fundraising Numbers
- Let's Make Biden-Harris the Winners Tonight with Big Fundraising Numbers
- Donate to Phil Arballo and Joe Biden
- Donate to President Biden's 2024 re-election campaign and the PCCC's work electing progressive candidates across the country. (PCCC)
- Tommy's Joe Biden 4 President 2024 Fundraiser
- Let's Re-Elect Biden-Harris!
- Help Joe Biden and Hank Johnson win in Georgia →
- Support President Biden for re-election
- Contribute Now to Support Don Beyer and Joe Biden's reelection campaigns!
- OFFICIAL Democratic Underground Donate to re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
- Thirst For Democracy Fund: Biden-Harris 2024
- {Header | Split a Contribution between Stop Gun Violence PAC and the Biden-Harris Campaign}
- Listen Jack, No Malarkey: Donate at least $20 to help re-elect Dark Brandon.
- Support President Biden and Martin Heinrich »
- Are you Ridin' with Biden 2024?
- Trump is a Jackass, so I'm donating to Biden
- Donate now to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris!
- Joe Biden is READY.
- Support President Biden & VP Harris Reelection Campaign!
- Help beat Traitor Trump and prevent him from taking over our country!
- Help reelect President Biden »
- DONATE NOW!
- We must take back the People’s House and keep the White House!
- Split a donation between Suzan and President Biden!
- Let's Make Biden-Harris the Winners of the GOP Debate with Big Fundraising Numbers Today
- Support Rosa & President Biden!
- New Jersey Blue in '23!
- Support President Biden and Katherine Clark!
- President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senate Democrats are counting on your support!
- Biden Is Running: He Needs A Strong Democratic Senate Majority
- Stand with Joe Biden
- Biden 2024 Fund
- Make these our 2023 & 2024 Democratic Winners!
- It's Official! President Joe Biden & VP Kamala Harris are running!!
- Jordan's Candidates for 2024
- Support President Biden for re-election
- U.S. Senate Blue in '24
- Win Nebraska's Electoral College Vote and Flip the NE-02 House Seat
- Are you Ridin' with Biden 2024?
- YOUTH SAVES DEMOCRACY (YSD)
- Let's Make Sure the Biden Campaign Posts Big Fundraising Numbers Today for SOTU!
UPDATE 3/18/24:
Welp. When the powers that be at the North Carolina Democratic Party heard about this bizarre incident, they reached out and were very friendly and apologetic. They promised to "talk to" the candidate and/or staffer, and asked me how this could be made right.
I told them that all I wanted was a public apology from the staffer and/or candidate.
Well, that was a week ago.
Since then, I haven't heard a peep from either.
I did, however, hear from one of the donors...who has been following this weird little saga, and who wanted to give me a heads up that they were contacted by the campaign staffer via email.
The email was for the most part just a standard thank you for their donation, which is fine.
But at the end, it states:
"P.S. Please advise if this is the actual amount of the contribution you submitted?"
Note that the thank you email was sent to the donor on March 14th...several days after I posted the story publicly here and over at Daily Kos.
In other words, the staffer is still questioning whether or not donors mean to split their donation even AFTER it's been explained to her 8 ways from Sunday that this is perfectly normal.
Many people have been encouraging me to reveal her name in order to make sure other candidates know to avoid her in the future. Others have encouraged me to keep both the candidate and the staffers' name private in order to avoid embarrassing the NC Dems...and again, the candidate himself really did seem like a reasonable and friendly guy.
UPDATE: I've had a discussion with the candidate and have agreed to let the matter go going forward.
