City of Portland Donation / Matching Funds 101

The City of Portland has taken ‘big business’ money out of the city’s elections by creating the Small Donor Elections (SDE) program, which matches smaller individual donations with taxpayer dollars instead. The goal of this program is akin to a ‘popularity contest’ - the candidates with the most individual Portland resident donors win the most funds for their campaign.

This year the match is 10:1, meaning whatever amount you donate from $5 to $25, will be matched. So that means:

$5 = $55

$10 = $110

$25 = $275

$100 = $350

$350 = $600

The maximum amount any individual can donate to a single campaign is $350, so that’s why we’ve included that math up above.

Again, we want to reiterate the number of individual donors is key here. So if you are used to making a lump sum donation on behalf of your entire family, it’s time to change your habits! Split that amount into smaller amounts among all of the individuals in your household over the age of 18. They do not need to be registered voters, but they do need to have a Portland address. (The same credit card can be used for all individuals at the same residence.) Anyone outside of Portland can also donate up to $350, it just won’t be matched.

We need folks to spread the word about how this works, and encourage people to donate now. Organizations that endorse candidates and the media look at these numbers early to decide who to endorse or promote in their news stories as more popular with the city’s electorate.

We also need to encourage people who live in different city districts to donate and volunteer in other districts. We want a rational majority on council, so we need to support all rational candidates. Recent reporting from Rose City Reform reviewed data over the last year and determined the City Council are voting along ideological lines, not district ones, so we must support across district lines.