--- description: Bernie Sanders broke the fundraising record for most contributions at this point in a presidential campaign with over 2.3 million donations. title: Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc5a95a4e46292d/69887638ab6d7704336a7a90/bernie-sanders7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 9:25 PM CUT  Bernie Sanders smiles during an interfaith roundtable in Washington, DC on Dec. 16, 2015. Bernie Sanders smiles during an interfaith roundtable in Washington, DC on Dec. 16, 2015.Drew Angerer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2015 9:25 PM CUT Bernie Sanders has broken the fundraising record for most contributions at this point in a presidential campaign, surpassing 2.3 million donations. According to [a Dec. 20 post](https://berniesanders.com/press-release/bernie-sanders-scores-big-win-breaks-major-fundraising-record/ "undefined") on Sanders’ campaign website, the previous record-holder was Barack Obama, who had logged 2,209,636 donations by Dec. 31, 2011 during his reelection bid. Many of these contributions are from small donors: according to the Sanders website, the average donation that came in during the third Democratic debate on Saturday was less than $25. Sanders raised more than $26 million in the third quarter of 2015, [according to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/election-2016-campaign-money-race.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). As TIME’s Sam Frizell [reported in September](http://time.com/4056925/bernie-sanders-obama-fundraising/ "undefined") after learning of strong fundraising numbers for the Vermont Senator, “Sanders routinely points to his average donation size and number of contributors as evidence that he is building a grassroots ‘political revolution.'” **Read Next:** [_Bernie Sanders Attracts Some Big Campaign Money Despite Denunciations_](http://time.com/4141201/bernie-sanders-superpac-money/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/"},"headline":"Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record","datePublished":"2015-12-21T21:25:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:34:21.211Z","description":"He's berning up the fundraising milestones","url":"https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/","keywords":["2016 Election","democrats","2016 Election topic","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc5a95a4e46292d/69887638ab6d7704336a7a90/bernie-sanders7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc5a95a4e46292d/69887638ab6d7704336a7a90/bernie-sanders7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bernie Sanders Joins Interfaith Roundtable At Washington D.C. 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