The Fundraising Effects of Facebook Marketing During the 2020 Election

Abstract

Social media has become a powerful tool for political candidates and interest groups to reach supporters. However, little is known about the effectiveness of social media marketing as a fundraising tool. In this paper, we analyze the fundraising records of a “Super PAC”, The Lincoln Project, which was founded by a group of Republicans to oppose President Trump and his allies. We study the links between ads The Lincoln Project purchased through Facebook Marketing during the 2020 election and campaign contributions the group received. We model the association between the number of users exposed to ads per state per day and the dollar amount received by The Lincoln Project Super PAC in campaign contributions per state per day. Our model estimates that every 100 impressions gained from a Facebook ad campaign in a given state on a given day is associated with an additional $6 in campaign contributions received, and that The Lincoln Project likely saw a more than 250% return in campaign contributions on their “investments” in Facebook ads.