Max Greenwood
ActBlue is getting into the digital organizing game.
The Democratic online fundraising behemoth announced on Wednesday that it had acquired the organizing tech company Impactive. It’s the latest move by the platform to broaden its footprint in the campaign ecosystem beyond donation processing.
In a statement, ActBlue’s top executive cast the acquisition as an effort to democratize digital organizing for campaigns that otherwise couldn’t afford the kind of tech used by larger operations. The ultimate goal is to launch a “Campaign in a Box” – essentially a set of fundraising, organizing and voter contact tools that campaigns can deploy immediately.
“This is about more than the technology – it’s about access,” ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones said in a statement. “We’re putting million-dollar campaign capabilities in the hands of every Democratic candidate, regardless of their budget or team size.”
Impactive – which is being rebranded as Impact by ActBlue – launched in 2017 as an effort to provide digital organizing tech – like texting, phone banking, relational organizing and voter registration tools – to progressive campaigns and organizations.
Impactive will keep its separate platform for the next three months while it’s integrated into ActBlue. The acquisition isn’t expected to affect Impactive’s existing clients, the company said.
ActBlue, which has served as the main Democratic online fundraising engine for the past two decades, has moved quickly to roll out new features this year amid broader challenges. Last month, the platform launched Raise by ActBlue, a digital fundraising tool specifically for state and local campaigns that Wallace-Jones touted as a step toward “democratizing digital fundraising.”
Despite Actblue’s expansion, the platform has faced scrutiny from both Republicans and some Democrats in recent months. Republicans have accused the platform of repeatedly skirting campaign finance laws, especially pertaining to foreign political contributions. ]
President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Department earlier this year to investigate ActBlue, though the probe has been roundly condemned by Democrats as an effort to clamp down on his political rivals’ fundraising abilities.
Some Democrats have also criticized ActBlue for failing to curb the use of spam fundraising tactics on its platform and protect donors from egregious fundraising practices. ActBlue announced last month that it would make major changes to its account use policies aimed at cracking down on “bad actors” in the fundraising ecosystem.
