I send letters & postcards too, that's covered in the "in kind contribution" portion of my political donation budget.
I’ve always dipped into my retirement income to donate to political campaigns. I give of my time as well, but haven’t attempted to quantify that. In past years, however, I found myself committing some of the cardinal sins of so many donors: giving on impulse in response to an email or social media post, and chasing the latest fad candidate without a plan for where my money might do the most good. So I formulated a campaign budget, based on the following premises:
1. I initially planned on giving $250 a month, a sum I decided with my wife I could prudently afford. Starting in December, I have nudged the total up to $300 per month. I have overspent in some months and underspent in others, but am close to the budget overall.
2. I strongly believe in a 50-state strategy, so I devote nearly half my budget to my very red state of Oklahoma. This might seem a foolish triage, since every dollar might go further devoted to swing states. But I believe we must fight wherever we are. Additionally, there’s some extra gratification in giving to candidates I know personally and to organizations in which I have at least a modest voice.
3. I divide my budget between candidates and campaign infrastructure. Candidates close up shop after the election, especially if they lose. But there are organizations which carry on the fight year-round, registering voters, messaging the general public, recruiting candidates and training volunteers. I started by donating 40% to infrastructure, but have trimmed that to 33% for 2026 as the individual races come into focus. Note that while my infrastructure donations within Oklahoma go mostly to the Democratic Party (where I hold county and federation office and attend the state convention as a delegate), I don’t give to the DNC or D trip-C, etc, having lost confidence in those institutions in the past. (The ODP is certainly not without its faults, but at least I have a voice in trying to fix things.)
Attached is my donation budget for the second half of 2025. Question marks indicate sums not yet allocated. Amounts already allocated for December are Act Blue monthly donations (underlined). I give to national candidates through Oath, impressed as I am with their impact score weighing metrics for competitiveness of race, stakes of the race, and financial need. An additional benefit is that donations given through Oath don’t result in new floods of emails to my in-box. I have a category for “in-kind” donations, which are mainly stamps for letters/postcards. (I “cheat” a bit by not counting my Zoom Pro account, which I also use for family and friends, or driving mileage.)
| Recipient |
25-Jul |
25-Aug |
25-Sep |
25-Oct |
25-Nov |
25-Dec |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Oklahoma Infrastructure ($50) |
50 |
160 |
45 |
45 |
50 |
45 |
| Oklahoma Democratic Veterans |
15 |
115* |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Indivisible Oklahoma |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
| Pontotoc Democratic Committee |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Oklahoma Democratic Party |
10 |
10 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
| OK-4 Democrats |
|
|
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
| other |
|
10 |
|
|
5** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Local candidates (increased from $60 to $75 for December) |
|
|
30 |
55 |
55 |
30 + ? |
| One-time |
25 |
25 |
|
25 |
|
|
| Cyndi Munson (Gov) |
|
|
10 |
10 |
35 |
10 |
| Jena Nelson (OK-5) |
|
|
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Jacob Rosecrants (HD-46) |
|
|
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| National Infrastructure ($50) |
20 |
30 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
| Movement Voter Project |
10 |
20 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
| Common Defense |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Natl. candidates thru Oath (Increased from $60 to $90 in Dec |
50 |
50 |
60 |
60 |
90 |
? |
| Flip the House |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Flip the Senate |
10 |
|
|
|
10 |
|
| Governors |
|
|
|
|
20 |
|
| Attorneys General |
|
|
|
|
20 |
|
| State Supreme Court |
|
|
|
|
10 |
|
| Special Elections |
|
50*** |
|
|
30**** |
|
| Virginia |
|
|
60 |
60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| In-kind contributions (increased from $30 to $35 in Dec) |
56 |
|
49 |
|
|
? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Monthly Total ($300) |
211 |
275 |
234 |
210 |
250 |
300 ? |
*Sponsorship of OKDemVets big annual event
**This was a “pass the hat” at a meeting to re-start the Democratic county committee in Murray County, OK, which has been without one for several years. They’re off to a good start.
***This was for Catelin Drey, who broke the Repub supermajority in the IA Senate.
****Ignored the lower Oath rating to give to Aftyn Behn in TN. Gotta go with a hunch once in a while! Eager to learn the result tonight!
Driving for canvassing Jacob Rosecrants, a stellar Represenative who flipped this red House district in 2017 and never gets to relax with a safe race. Posted just to show that I don’t just give $. At age 80, I still knock doors myself sometimes, but on a hot day prefer to be the driver.
