--- title: Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record description: Bernie Sanders broke the fundraising record for most contributions at this point in a presidential campaign with over 2.3 million donations. canonical: https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-21T21:25:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:29.131Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record og:description: He's received more than 2.3 million contributions og:url: https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc5a95a4e46292d/69887638ab6d7704336a7a90/bernie-sanders7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4706 og:image:height: 2647 og:image:alt: Bernie Sanders Joins Interfaith Roundtable At Washington D.C. Mosque og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record twitter:description: He's received more than 2.3 million contributions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddc5a95a4e46292d/69887638ab6d7704336a7a90/bernie-sanders7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders Breaks Fundraising Record > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Third Democratic Debate, In Under Two Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): The Third Democratic Debate, In Under Two Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lTPNqlFm.m3u8) (1:54)  _Published 2015-12-20. Here are the highlights from the final Democratic debate of 2015._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 21, 2015 9:25 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 21, 2015 9:25 PM UTC 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/) 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). As TIME’s Sam Frizell [reported in September](http://time.com/4056925/bernie-sanders-obama-fundraising/) 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/) ```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":"2026-08-19T07:41:29.131Z","description":"He's berning up the fundraising milestones","url":"https://time.com/4157904/bernie-sanders-fundraising-donations-record/","keywords":["2016 Election","democrats","2016 Election","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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