President Donald Trump received nearly 70 percent ($239 million) of his campaign money from "small donors," who gave $200 or less during the 2016 presidential election cycle.
Small donors gave Trump $238.6 million during the 2016 election cycle, constituting 58 percent of his total contributions and 69 percent of his campaign's individual contributions. That influx of small donations was "record shattering" and "unprecedented," according to The Campaign Finance Institute on Tuesday.
The President eclipsed the amount that previous Democratic presidential candidates had raised from small donor dollars. Former President Barack Obama, for example, raised $218.8 million in 2012 and $181.3 million in 2008 from contributions that were less than $200.
2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt) combined raised less small donor dollars than Trump in both proportion and total amount. Sanders got $99.7 million or 44 percent of his individual contributions from small donors. Small donors gave Clinton $136.8 million, which comprised 22 percent of her total individual contributions.
Trump's small donor contributions during the 2016 election cycle dwarfed 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's haul of $58 million from donors who gave less than $200.
