2020 Presidential Election: Campaign Funding Overview

Candidate	Total Raised (All Sources)	Official Campaign Committee	Outside Spending Groups (Super PACs, etc.)
Donald Trump	$1.1 Billion	$774.6 Million	$294.6 Million
Joe Biden	$1.8 Billion	$1.07 Billion	$697.7 Million

Breakdown of Official Campaign Committee Funds

Donald Trump's Campaign Committee ($774.6M): The majority of funds came from individual contributors, with 34% from small individual contributions and 59% from large individual contributions. Political Action Committee (PAC) donations accounted for only 1% of the total, with other sources making up the remaining 6%.

Joe Biden's Campaign Committee ($1.07B): Similar to his opponent, the vast majority of funding came from individual donors, with 41% from small individual contributions and 53% from large individual contributions. PAC donations represented just 2% of the total funds, with other sources contributing 4%.

Key Takeaways from the 2020 Cycle

Overall Fundraising: Joe Biden's campaign and his supporting outside groups significantly out-raised Donald Trump's, with a total financial advantage of approximately $700 million.

Dominance of Individual Donors: For both candidates, the official campaign was funded overwhelmingly by individual people, not organizations. 93% of Trump's and 94% of Biden's campaign committee funds came from individual contributors.

PAC Donations are Minimal: Direct contributions from Political Action Committees to the presidential campaigns were a very small factor, making up only 1-2% of their total campaign committee funds. This demonstrates that presidential campaigns rely on a broad base of individual donors rather than organizational PAC money.

The Role of Outside Money: While not donated directly to the candidates, outside spending by Super PACs was massive. Biden-aligned groups had a more than 2-to-1 financial advantage in this category, funding television ads, digital marketing, and other direct political advocacy.

Important Note: Complete data for the 2024 election is not yet available, as the campaign is ongoing. However, the trend of strong individual support continues, with both candidates again raising hundreds of millions of dollars for their official campaigns, with over 90% coming from individual contributors.