{"id":32667,"date":"2015-10-19T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/small-dollar-donors-flock-to-trump-help-power-his-campaign\/"},"modified":"2015-10-19T08:00:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T15:00:28","slug":"small-dollar-donors-flock-to-trump-help-power-his-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/small-dollar-donors-flock-to-trump-help-power-his-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Small-dollar donors flock to Trump, help power his campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014<\/strong> Donald Trump likes to boast about his enormous wealth and how he doesn\u2019t need anyone else\u2019s money to pay for his presidential campaign. That hasn\u2019t stopped tens of thousands of people from chipping in with checks as small as $10 to let the Republican candidate know they\u2019re behind him.<\/p>\n

Trump has taken in 73,942 contributions, a total that surpasses several GOP rivals, despite the billionaire businessman\u2019s early pledge to finance his own campaign. Financial reports filed last week also show that more than 70 percent of the $3.9 million he raised from July through September came from people giving $200 or less. That rate of small-donor contributions is second only to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who\u2019s in the Democratic race.<\/p>\n

The average Trump contribution was $50.46, his campaign said.<\/p>\n

The contributors are in small towns, suburbs and big cities. He\u2019s raised money from hundreds of retirees, ranchers, dentists, physicians, real estate executives and financial consultants.<\/p>\n

For Ansley Pascoli, 64, a retiree in Sandy Springs, Georgia, the money is intended as a symbol of support. She gave the Trump campaign $25 and bought several hats and T-shirts, one of which she was wearing Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my reasons for wanting to support him is that even though I know that he does have a lot of money, I don\u2019t feel that it\u2019s right for him to have to bear the burden,\u201d she said in a telephone interview when asked why she was giving money to someone who has bragged about not needing campaign cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd even though my contribution was small, I want him to have the feeling that there are other people that are behind him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It was a sentiment expressed by many of those who appear on Trump\u2019s contributor list and is evidence of the passion he has elicited from voters angry over the country\u2019s direction and craving a political outsider.<\/p>\n

Pascoli said she was drawn to Trump because of his hard-line stance on immigration, his business background and the fact he\u2019s not a product of the political system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think we are in a pivotal time for the country and we need somebody who has the type of skill set that he has,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Stephan Robinson, a commercial real estate broker in Pearland, Texas, said he contributed $250 because he felt an obligation to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you support a candidate, it shouldn\u2019t matter how much money he\u2019s got,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have to spend all his money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson went on: \u201cI know he doesn\u2019t need my money and the little bit of money I\u2019ve sent, it\u2019s not going to make a big difference. But I just feel in good conscience, that if you support somebody, you should contribute to help offset some of his costs.\u201d Robinson also offered to volunteer and provide office space if the campaign wants to come to town. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s given money to another Republican in the race \u2014 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.<\/p>\n

Illinois retiree Beverly Perlson, who\u2019s from a military family, said she was immediately drawn to Trump because of his attention to veterans\u2019 issues and his promise to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n

The first time she heard him speak about the issue, she said, \u201cI absolutely fell in love with Donald Trump at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her recent $100 contribution was intended to say thank you. \u201cMy heart rejoiced because he\u2019s honestly the first person who stood up for our troops, our veterans,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While Trump originally denounced the idea of contributions, he appeared to warm to the idea over the summer. His campaign now makes it easy to give, with a prominent \u201cDonate\u201d Button\u201d on his website. The site also offers an online store full of campaign gear, such as $30 hats with Trump\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d slogan and $50 sweatshirts.<\/p>\n

The latest filings show that the vast majority of Trump\u2019s campaign expenses in the last quarter were financed by contributions, not by Trump himself.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said in August that the campaign had received tens of thousands in small-dollar donations, but contributions would remain \u201ca very small portion\u201d of the campaign\u2019s funds. He did not respond to questions Friday about the extent to which the campaign\u2019s calculus had changed.<\/p>\n

Many of the logged contributions reflect purchases from the website. Elle Koch, a semiretired business owner from Cincinnati, Ohio, made a hooded sweatshirt and bumper sticker purchase.<\/p>\n

Koch, a frequent phone-banker, would like an eventual role with the campaign. She said she wasn\u2019t surprised by the large number of contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the things you can do right now to show your support,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Donald Trump likes to boast about his enormous wealth and how he doesn\u2019t need anyone else\u2019s money to pay for his presidential campaign. That hasn\u2019t stopped tens of thousands of people from chipping in with checks as small as $10 to let the Republican candidate know they\u2019re behind him. Trump has taken in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":32668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[65],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-32667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nation-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32667"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=32667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}