Biden campaign to focus more on Trump to boost lackluster fundraising

President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is expanding its fundraising strategy to try to boost contributions.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is expanding its fundraising strategy to try to boost contributions in the coming weeks and over the longer term, as officials acknowledge that small-dollar donations have been slower to materialize, according to three campaign officials and two other people familiar with the matter.

The new phase coincides with campaign officials’ privately downplaying expectations for how much the re-election effort will raise during the current fundraising quarter, which ends Sept. 30, according to the sources.

To increase fundraising numbers in the run-up to the deadline, the campaign plans to roll out fresh incentives and messaging that officials hope will energize donors, including a stronger focus on the notion that former President Donald Trump and his allies are a threat to democracy, the campaign officials and other people familiar with the strategy said. 

They said Biden will have an aggressive fundraising schedule this month. And there’s an effort to recruit 1,000 new fundraisers by January who will focus on soliciting contributions in the $250-to-$1,000 range, the sources said. 

Chris Korge, the chairman of the Biden Victory Fund, hinted at the effort in a recent phone call with Democratic Party donors that was heard by NBC News.