In November 2023, End Citizens United, a prominent liberal advocacy group, unveiled an ambitious $9 million initiative titled “Organize New York.” The program aimed to boost voter registration among young people in six critical battleground House districts across New York, potentially aiding Democrats in regaining control of Congress the following year.
However, the initiative never came to fruition.
Following a local TV interview in December 2023, End Citizens United ceased discussing the project. IRS documents examined by POLITICO indicated that the organization’s 501(c)4 nonprofit division, which was supposed to finance the effort, spent just $1 million in 2024 across all activities.
This abrupt halt in New York reflects a broader decline in End Citizens United’s influence within the electoral funding landscape. Once a formidable force in fundraising, amassing millions from online small-dollar donations, the organization now faces a downturn. A POLITICO analysis of campaign finance data and nonprofit records, supported by interviews with over two dozen former employees and Democratic strategists, highlights a significant drop in both fundraising and direct electoral spending, disappointing many former allies.
End Citizens United’s direct electoral spending has plummeted, hitting unprecedented lows in the 2024 cycle. This period has seen the group nearly exhaust its raised funds, with over a third of expenses attributed to fundraising costs.
The organization attributes this shift to a strategic redirection. As overall outside spending has surged, End Citizens United has prioritized event hosting, volunteer engagement, and relationship-building with candidates and officials.
The decline in spending coincides with fundraising challenges affecting many progressive groups. By March, End Citizens United’s PAC had just $324,000 on hand despite raising $14.8 million, primarily due to a high burn rate. Payments to fundraising firms were the largest expense category at $5.3 million, followed by $2.5 million in payroll. The PAC contributed about $650,000 to candidates and party groups, including through its nonfederal arm, and bundled over $630,000.
Founded in 2015 to support candidates advocating for campaign finance reform, the organization has transitioned from a major Democratic supporter to a less influential player, according to critics.
“Without the money, without the [independent expenditures], they don’t have the same level of influence anymore,” remarked a senior Democratic campaign operative, who requested anonymity for candid discussion.
Concerns about End Citizens United’s high burn rate and reduced election spending are echoed by former employees and others within the Democratic ecosystem, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. They fear the group is depleting its small-dollar fundraising lists without effectively aiding Democratic election efforts.
Although the group continues to assure small-dollar donors that their contributions will support Democratic candidates and challenge the Citizens United decision, its primary PAC spent four times more on operating expenses than on donations and independent expenditures in the 2024 cycle, according to a POLITICO analysis of FEC data. As of March’s end, fundraising costs exceeded those of any previous cycle.
End Citizens United claims it is well-prepared for the midterms, highlighting its extensive programming and candidate engagement.
“We’re on pace to raise more money than we have in any year since 2022,” stated Executive Director Abe Rakov, emphasizing the increase in candidates running as No Corporate PAC candidates and the rise in volunteer activation since the HR 1 campaign in 2021.
The group argues that with the rise in outside election spending, individual groups see less return from such involvement. Data from OpenSecrets indicates that total independent expenditure spending in major Senate races has tripled from 2018 to 2024.
“Rather than being a smaller portion of the overall IE ecosystem, we shifted resources toward long-term programmatic work where we can have a greater impact, including organizing, candidate services, research, and voter engagement,” explained Alysa James, vice president for communications, in response to emailed inquiries. “We are reaching more candidates, building deeper relationships, activating more volunteers, and influencing races in ways that go well beyond what we did when a higher percentage of our budget focused on IEs.”
Regarding Organize New York, James described the $9 million plan as an “early-stage concept” ultimately deemed redundant with other groups’ efforts, prompting End Citizens United to support partner organizations instead.
Yet, two former employees involved in the project reported that the group spent several months planning before halting due to fundraising shortfalls.
Numerous Democratic groups are grappling with a more challenging fundraising environment and increased donor outreach costs.
During Donald Trump’s first presidential term, small-dollar donations surged as Democrats expressed their dissatisfaction. However, the extensive use of text and email fundraising has left many donors fatigued, and Trump’s second term has not sparked a similar fundraising boost for many Democratic groups.
“There should’ve been a reckoning around digital fundraising after the 2020 cycle, where someone said, this spigot is dripping, it’s not a fire hose. We need to come up with a new revenue model, new fundraising tactics,” commented a former End Citizens United employee. “That never happened.”
A number of progressive PACs and nonprofits, many of which emerged or expanded during the Trump era, have experienced budget cuts and layoffs in recent years as they navigate the downturn. However, End Citizens United’s decrease in independent expenditure spending is notably steep, according to a POLITICO analysis of similarly-sized PACs.
End Citizens United continues to rely on online small-dollar donations for its PAC, a unique approach for a PAC of its size. Former employees attribute the group’s inability to adjust its spending to align with the fundraising decline to leadership decisions.
“For years,” staff “would raise concerns about [the] fundraising model” and its long-term sustainability, said another former employee.
A significant portion of End Citizens United’s online fundraising rests on promises to support Democrats electorally.
“[W]e need to raise another $75,000 before midnight to hit our goal and rush resources to Democrats running in the closest Senate races from coast to coast,” stated a recent Facebook ad soliciting donations.
“DONATE NOW TO TAKE BACK THE HOUSE,” urged another.
Despite escalating fundraising expenses, the group’s independent expenditures—funds directly allocated to winning elections—have sharply declined since 2020, dropping from $14.2 million that cycle to $6 million in 2022 and $1.7 million in 2024. Although overall operating expenses also decreased in 2024, the reduction was less severe than in direct election spending, widening the gap between the two.
End Citizens United remains active in electoral politics, providing endorsements, hosting candidate forums, and organizing town halls in competitive districts.
The organization anticipates that the return on its fundraising investments will improve as the November election approaches, potentially using independent expenditures to support candidates in need.
“Our work is focused on electing Democrats to advance legislative reforms, and we’re doing this by building long-term, sustainable programs,” James stated. “This includes initiatives like our Unrig Washington program, which has 200 candidates running on an anti-corruption platform, our expanded grassroots organizing program that has activated tens of thousands of volunteers, and dozens of town halls and events connecting candidates with voters across the country. ECU is more present and embedded with campaigns than ever before, and these efforts require significant resources and staff.”
End Citizens United maintains positive relationships with many candidates and groups it has collaborated with, several of whom it connected with POLITICO for this article. A senior consultant for Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s Senate campaign noted that the PAC’s reputation bolstered Stratton’s credibility on anti-corruption issues during her recent primary. An adviser for battleground Senate campaigns in 2020 and 2022 affirmed that the group effectively discussed money in politics in red states, engaging independent voters.
“ECU’s work to defend voting rights, advocate for more accountability and transparency in government, and build a stronger democracy has been valuable,” stated Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Julie Merz. “They are an important partner in our mission to take back the majority and get the People’s House back to work for the American people.”
“ECU is a valued partner in our work to win a Democratic Senate majority by defeating the Republican candidates who are enabling the Trump administration’s chaos and corruption,” added Devan Barber, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Privately, however, some longstanding allies admit that the group is less capable of supporting candidates due to fundraising challenges. For campaigns in critical races focusing on issues related to End Citizens United’s mission, financial support is often the most crucial aid.
“Campaigns in tough races are looking for one thing: financial assistance, either through direct contributions or independent expenditure support,” observed a national Democratic strategist involved in congressional campaigns. “Made-for-Instagram canvass kickoffs only go so far.”
A second Democratic strategist, who advised a 2018 campaign supported by End Citizens United, noted that the group’s outside spending was “definitely a value add” at that time. However, in more recent cycles, its events have been less beneficial, focusing more on advocacy than direct campaign support. The strategist added that promised donations from End Citizens United took months to materialize, contrasting with the swift pace of independent expenditures in previous years.
End Citizens United has previously overcome skepticism to establish its role in the Democratic ecosystem.
When the group was founded in 2015, progressives criticized its aggressive fundraising strategies, which included extensive list rentals and relentless donor appeals. End Citizens United mitigated much of that criticism by becoming a significant outside spending entity, disbursing over $10 million per cycle to support candidates aligned with its mission. This achievement placed it among the top 20 outside spenders across both parties in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 cycles.
A key factor in its growth was the “No Corporate PAC” pledge, launched during the 2018 cycle to encourage candidates to reject corporate PAC contributions, citing their corrupting influence. More than 100 candidates, mostly Democrats, embraced the pledge, with many elected to Congress that year.
“[The] corporate PAC pledge was controversial, but an important tool in taking back the House in 2018,” recalled a third former End Citizens United employee. “The staff grew and was able to support candidates in a lot of different ways. It was the right issue for the moment. Everyone who was there for that time would talk about it as the peak cycle.”
Their influence was evident the following year when seven Democratic presidential candidates signed End Citizens United’s pledge, committing to prioritize campaign finance reform and good-government proposals in their initial legislative efforts.
In the 2020 election cycle, the group raised $42 million, allocating $14.2 million to independent expenditures and donating over $1.8 million directly to candidates, according to FEC data. The “No Corporate PACs” pledge expanded that cycle, with more than 150 incumbents participating.
However, cracks began to appear.
Some incumbent members of Congress who had taken the pledge in 2018 later accepted corporate PAC money, highlighting the limitations of a voluntary pledge. Democrats did not come close to achieving the group’s central goal of campaign finance reform, despite holding a trifecta during President Joe Biden’s first two years, due to the Senate filibuster. Additionally, digital fundraising started to falter.
The group’s fundraising tactics continue to frustrate critics, especially given its reduced election spending. They argue that End Citizens United brands itself as a good-governance organization that fails to fulfill its promises to donors.
“The people sending $15 are not sending $15 for salaries and high-paid consultants. They’re sending $15 to fight against Trump and elect good people,” said a fourth former End Citizens United staffer. “That’s not what’s happening anymore. ECU has lost focus. They should be asking themselves, what are we actually delivering for our supporters?”
