EXCLUSIVE: Top Republican Elise Stefanik injects $12 million into online small-dollar fundraising ahead of 2024: GOP touts increase in ‘high quality’ grassroots donors as key to maintaining control of House of Representatives

Top lawmaker Elise Stefanik is helping Republicans expand their online reach to donors by injecting millions into a platform designed to boost the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 elections.

Online donation platform WinRed was launched a few years ago as a Republican Party alternative to the Democratic Party’s small dollar donation platform ActBlue.

Traditionally, Democrats have had more success with online fundraising, but the Republican Party is working to catch up quickly, especially ahead of the next election in 2024.

WinRed, which says it has amassed more than 1.7 million individual small-dollar donors who have given to three or more campaigns, has become critical to Republicans by identifying and implementing creative ways to engage grassroots supporters Pull.

The platform says the total number of donors is well into the millions.

Supporters of Stefanik, chairman of the House Republican Conference, told DailyMail.com that she has revolutionized WinRed and the GOP’s online fundraising over the past nearly four years.

During that period, Stefanik has injected a total of $12 million into more than 183 “critical” campaigns across the country.

And that includes nearly $2 million in direct donations.

WinRed is working with Stefanik and using her pre-existing list of supporters to boost other GOP candidates.

It begins with an initial outreach campaign to Stefanik’s donor list, resulting in a 50/50 split of donations between the chairman and the specific GOP candidate’s coffers.

Once a donor from Stefanik’s list donates to the joint online campaign, the campaign will then target them individually to directly boost the new Republican candidate.

It is a strategy that has met with great success: an amount of 10 million dollars has been raised from donors who, for the first time, will donate directly to the campaign of a new Republican candidate.

And about 70 percent of those donors were their first donors to a particular candidate – introduced to them through Stefanik.

For example, Team Elise shared a fundraiser for Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz.

“I don’t often contact you in this way, but I ask that you read every word of this important message,” it reads.

‘The stakes couldn’t be higher; Without your help, things could get ugly.”

She then endorses Crane in the message to grassroots donors.

Once one of the chairman’s donors receives that email and contributes via WinRed, the donation will be split 50/50 between Crane and Stefanik.

Crane then gathers his new financial support and adds it to his campaign’s small donor list.

“I am thrilled to see that our Team Elise grassroots donors have generously funded targeted campaigns and candidates with more than 12,000,000 million grassroots donations with an average donation of $22,” Stefanik told DailyMail.com.

She thanked her Team Elise supporters who supported her ten years ago when she changed NY-21 from blue to red.

Efforts to attract more small dollar donors are gaining momentum within the Republican Party, thanks in large part to Stefanik’s work.

And strategists say the data shows a surge of momentum for the Republican Party heading into the 2024 elections.

About 40 percent of the donors brought in by the GOP chairman are considered “high quality,” meaning they have a saved profile account with WinRed and are set up so they can easily donate again in the future.

WinRed CEO Ryan Lyk called Stefanik’s approach to online fundraising a “textbook” that others should follow.

“Chairman Elise Stefanik has been at the tip of the spear in using WinRed to support targeted campaigns and her efforts have resulted in millions of dollars being raised from grassroots donors where it matters most,” he said.

A Republican digital strategist tells DailyMail.com that the partnership between WinRed and Stefanik is now the standard model used by other campaign organizations, including the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and the National Victory Action Fund chaired by former Senator Cory Gardner.

“It has been critical in our efforts to catch up with Democrats in digital fundraising,” the strategist said.

While Republicans are still trying to overtake Democrats’ dominance in online campaigning, they are now on a more fruitful track.

ActBlue claims it has raised more than $12 billion since its launch in 2004 – well before WinRed came onto the scene.

WinRed said it has processed $3.3 billion in donations since launching in late 2018.

NRCC Chairman Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., says he supports Stefanik’s work and “generous efforts” over the years.

He told DailyMail.com that she empowers their candidates in key battleground races by introducing them to her grassroots donors.