WUM Raises $3.3 Million in July; Campaign War Chest at Over $5.4 Million, Fueled by Washington Donors

Washington United for Marriage (WUM), the broad coalition working to defend the state’s bipartisan marriage law and Approve R74, today announced that nearly 3,500 donors contributed just over $3.3 million in July, with an online fund raising boost following the historic $2.5 million gift from Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos. The monthly total effectively raises WUM’s budget to just over $5.4 million.

With the July numbers in, WUM now has nearly 10,000 individual donors, with 89% of those gifts coming from inside Washington state.  But the big story may be the online giving, where over half the contributions in July followed the announcement of the Bezos gift.  Put another way, in the last five days of the month, WUM raised more money online then it had raised all month and from more donors. Online donations totaled nearly $177,000, with over $93,000 and 52% of the donations following the Bezos’ announcement.

At the same time, WUM expanded its phone bank network in July and now runs 30 operations statewide, contacting voters most nights of the week.  As a result, volunteers held more than 12,000 phone conversations in July.

“This has been a remarkable month,” said WUM campaign manager Zach Silk.  “And what’s so impressive and so necessary is that people have responded to this historic gift by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos by giving themselves.  That’s exactly what needs to happen if we have a shot of making an ambitious budget that’s required to reach voters whether one-on-one or through paid advertising.”

Among the highlights of the month’s giving:

— 64 teams are now committed to working towards an ambitious $1 million goal in a special drive called Raising Millions for Marriage.

— Seattle hip hop artists Maclemore and Ryan Lewis released “Same Love” a new single on sale on Amazon and iTunes to benefit marriage equality.  Already, “Same Love” has more than 10,000 downloads.

— 22 house parties were held across the state with almost $35,000 raised from people hosting their families, neighbors and colleagues.

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