In Iowa, candidates want votes, not cash

Donors big and small are pulling out their wallets in Iowa to support their candidates in the 2016 presidential election. But their contributions amount to little more than a drop in the bucket.

'When candidates come to Iowa, fundraising is not their primary purpose. It's kind of gravy, if you will,” said Donna Hoffman, who heads the political science department at the University of Northern Iowa.

Republican presidential candidates' campaigns raised $132,581 in Iowa from January through June, the last period reported by the Federal Election Commission. Democratic presidential candidates raised $69,782.

Those dollars raised in Iowa account for less than 1 percent of the candidates' national totals in the last campaign reporting period.

'This isn't where the big bucks are. This is where the caucusgoers are,” Hoffman said. 'That's their primary focus.”

Hoffman said it's common for candidates to go to states with plenty of wealthy donors, such as California or Florida, to raise money, only to turn around and spend it in Iowa.

'A dollar-to-dollar comparison does not capture the importance of the state of Iowa at this stage in the game,” she said.

Bush leads the pack

The FEC data that IowaWatch used in this report includes all financial records filed by candidates and their affiliated committees from Jan. 1 to June 30.

The next FEC filing deadline is Thursday, and it will include all financial records from July 1 to Sept. 30.

Jeb Bush has raised the most in Iowa so far. His principal campaign garnered only $21,150 from January through June, but his super PAC - Right to Rise USA - raised $203,750 in the same period, putting him well above the rest of the Republican pack.

Though he trails Bush when it comes to financial contributions, Ben Carson raised the second-highest amount in Iowa. His campaign pulled in $43,632. Two of his super PACs - National Draft Ben Carson for President and the 2016 Committee - netted an additional $50,820.

The retired neurosurgeon from Detroit continues to be second to Donald Trump in the latest NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll, trailing among potential Iowa GOP caucusgoers - 24 percent to 19 percent. The poll, taken the last week of September, had a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.

Giving the maximum

Altogether, Bush's campaign and his Right to Rise super PAC received two dozen individual contributions from Iowa in the first six months of this year. Most of the donors to his campaign gave $2,700, the maximum amount the FEC allows an individual to give to a candidate during an election.

Because super PACs don't have to follow those rules, more than half the donors to Right to Rise gave $25,000 individually.

Carson's campaign and his two super PACs received 985 contributions from more than 700 Iowa donors from January to the end of June. Most donated $100 or less, and a significant number donated as little as $5 or $10.

Grass-roots support

No 2016 presidential candidate - Republican or Democrat - has come close to the sheer volume of donations that Carson has amassed in Iowa so far.

This, Hoffman said, is a viable strategy for creating a grass-roots network of supporters: Get lots of small donors and keep going back for more.

'You can be Ben Carson or Rick Santorum or some of the other people who aren't raising lots of money, visit the state and still make a splash by just talking to people and getting them to commit to you, maybe even with just $5,”

she said.

'That $5 or $10 commitment is information the campaign has on that voter. They're in the database, which means you can potentially move them to a body that goes to the caucus. And that's really important in this stage.”

Democratic Donors

Among Democrats, FEC data puts Hillary Clinton at the head of the pack for fundraising in Iowa.

She received $51,888 from Iowa from January to the end of June and a single $500 donation to Ready PAC, a hybrid PAC that supports her.

Bernie Sanders is the runner-up with $16,394 raised, with Martin O'Malley trailing at $1,500. Neither Lincoln Chafee nor Jim Webb have disclosed money raised or spent in Iowa so far.

' This story was produced by the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch.org, a non-profit, online news website that collaborates with Iowa news organizations to produce explanatory and investigative reporting.

IowaWatch assistant editor/reporter/digital analyst Lauren Mills contributed data analysis to this story.