The Step-by-Step Guide to ActBlue
Can you send an e-mail? (check). Have you bought something online? (check). OK, you've passed the test, and you're ready to begin.
This guide will walk you through the steps of fundraising using the ActBlue website. Before you start, consider opening up a second web browser window so you can follow along step-by-step.
- Choose your first candidate or committee
- Sign up
- Add your own words
- Add more candidates or committees (optional)
- Editing your page
- Start Fundraising!
- Track your progress
1. Choose a candidate or committee to support.
Go to our candidate directory (also linked at the top of the page). Using the search bar, find a candidate or committee for whom you want to fundraise. If you want to support more than one, don't worry — the order in which you choose them doesn't matter.
Once you've found the directory entry you're looking for, click the "Start Fundraising" button in the right-hand column.
2. Sign up.
If you aren't already logged in, you'll be asked to create an account by entering your e-mail and choosing a password.
(If you have already created an account but haven't logged in yet, choose the "Sign in to an existing account" link below the account creation form.)
3. Add your own words.
Give your fundraising page a good title, and put your name or the name of your organization in the "author" field.
You can then write your pitch for the candidate or committee you've chosen. You can type regular text (separate paragraphs with a blank line, or check out our HTML guide to use bold and italicized fonts, and create bulleted and numbered lists.
No need to worry about getting everything perfect now — you'll be able to edit everything later.
Finally, choose a short, easy-to-remember web address, and click the "create your fundraising page" button.
4. Add more candidates or committees (optional).
If you want to add more candidates or commitees to your fundraising page, just go back to the candidate directory. Now you'll see there's a button to add directory entries to your fundraising page. Pages with a short list of candidates tend to be more effective.
When you're done, go back to your fundraising page by following the link in the orange bar at the top of the directory pages.
5. Editing your page
When you're logged in, you'll see an orange box at the top of your fundraising page. Click the "Edit" link.
Here you can adjust your page's title, author, and all the text you've written. We recommend that you save your page often so you don't accidentally lose your brilliant fundraising pitch. For inspiration, read about how to make a good fundraising page.
Also, you'll see each entry on your page has a "Remove" button, and there are also "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons to re-order the entries.
6. Start fundraising!
Now, when everything's ready, save your fundraising page, and start fundraising! But don't fall into the trap of thinking that people will mysteriously show up at your page - it's your job to tell people about your page and to get them to visit. If you're new to fundraising, learn how to ask people to contribute here.
7. Track your progress.
Whenever you want to see how your page is doing, just go back to the "My ActBlue" tab. (You may need to log back in.) The "My Fundraising Pages" table will show you how many people have contributed and how much you've raised. If you click on the amount you've raised, you'll get more detailed information on who's contributed.
Thank you for all you do to support these candidates, and to make the Democratic difference.
If you or your contributors have questions about ActBlue, check our FAQs and then contact us and let us know how we can help.