Obama campaign raised $45 million in February

GlobalPost

The re-election campaign for President Barack Obama raised $45 million in February, Obama’s official twitter announced on Monday.

The campaign said the money came from 348,000 donors in February, with 105,000 being first time contributors, according to CNN.

The announcement highlighted the “grassroots efforts” of the campaign, with the average donation amount falling somewhere around $59.04, with 97.7 percent of the donations amounting to $250 or less.

The nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute released a report last month that showed that nearly half the money raised by the Obama campaign through the end of 2011 came from small donors, whereas only 9 percent of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s campaign funds came from small donors, according to The Wall Street Journal.

More on GlobalPost: Polls: Obama's approval rating weakens but he remains strong versus Santorum, Romney

The amount raised in February was an increase on January, when the campaign raised $29 million, according to CBS News. During the last three months of 2011, the Obama campaign raised an average of $23 million per month. The funds raised were split between Obama’s campaign, the Democratic party and two campaign funds, according to CBS News.

Campaign officials have been concerned about Republican-supporting super PACs which are expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to defeat the president. The Obama campaign said it would allow super PACs supporting Democrats, to counter the opposition, according to CBS News.

The Washington Post noted that the Obama campaign is attracting half as many large check donors as it did four years ago at this time. In 2008, Obama had received large donations from 23,000 supporters, whereas this time the number hovers around 11,000.

The Obama campaign raised $750 million during the 2008 election. CNN reported that the president will be present at a fundraiser on Monday night, after raising nearly $5 million at five fundraisers in Chicago and Atlanta.

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