Elections 2024: How to put an end to endless fundraising messages

Anyone who has ever donated to a political campaign or group probably knows the experience: You give money to a candidate or cause you support once, and then you’re inundated with messages asking for more. This experience has recently taken on an even greater dimension, as political fundraising has exploded in recent months, drawing even more people to these calls for donations as Election Day approaches.

While these messages can seem endless, especially during the tense days of a presidential campaign, there is still a way to stop them, as these fundraising entities are required by law to ask for your consent for automated messages. Read on for more details on modern fundraising practices and what you can do to better keep fundraisers at bay.

And for more information to help you prepare for this election season, read how to find your state’s early voting window and how to determine your registration status.

Why do campaigns send so many automated messages?

Automated messages have become a major part of political outreach efforts in the digital age. Text messages, in particular, have become a powerful tool for raising money for election campaigns. In an interview with Time magazine, Alex Quilici, CEO of the call-blocking company YouMail, explained that text messages are more cost-effective than physical mail or phone calls and tend to encourage more engagement. This is especially true for young people, he added, who are more likely to respond to texts from numbers they don’t recognize than to calls.

How do I stop fundraising text messages and emails?

The Federal Communications Commission, aka the FCC, requires these political fundraising entities to obtain your consent for automated messaging, which also means they are required to allow you to opt out at will.

Most of the text messages you receive for political fundraising purposes include instructions on how to stop the messages (usually by texting them “STOP”). It’s also possible to try to avoid these messages in the first place, with fundraising companies like ActBlue and WinRed specifying that adding your phone number on their forms is optional.

Adding your email address, however, is generally not optional. To unsubscribe from future fundraising emails, you should be able to scroll to the bottom of each message you receive and find a link that allows you to unsubscribe from the current mailing list. You may need to do this multiple times in different fundraising messages, as your information may have been listed on multiple lists used by fundraising operations.

What can I do about phishing scams?

If you suspect that the email you received is not a simple invitation to a fundraiser, but rather a disguised phishing attempt, you should do two things: first, do not click on their links or give them any information about yourself. Second, forward the message to the address Anti-Phishing Working Group to [email protected].

For more, check out what every major presidential candidate has said about the child tax credit.