Jonathan Zucker Explained

Jonathan Zucker (born December 23, 1971) is a political technology entrepreneur and campaign finance attorney best known as the founder of Democracy Engine, the first COO and second CEO of ActBlue and the founder of It Starts Today.^{[1] [2]}

History

Zucker worked at the Democratic National Committee from 2003–2005, serving as the National Director of Operations for Finance, overseeing technology, legal, compliance, vetting, and data-management for the DNC's $100 million major-donor program. Prior to the DNC, Zucker worked with progressive and Democratic organizations as a fundraiser, legal counsel, and field organizer, including The Interfaith Alliance, Human Rights Campaign, GenderPAC, and the Democratic Leadership Council. Zucker was later the first employee of ActBlue, where he served as Senior Strategist & Counsel, COO & Counsel, and Executive Director (CEO) between 2005 and 2008.^[3]

Political startups

Zucker is involved in two current organizations:

• Democracy Engine^{[4] [5]} — which he founded in 2009 and serves as CEO—is a nonpartisan online donation processing platform to handle fundraising for candidates at all level of US elections as well as political committees and nonprofits.
• It Starts Today^{[6] [7]} —which he founded in 2017—is a partisan Democratic PAC that operates an online donation platform soliciting monthly donations equally divided between all Democrats running for Congress.

Past projects include:

• CrowdPAC^[8] — founded by Steve Hilton and for which he served as Strategist and Counsel — used data on political candidates to recommend them to users based on each user's interests. Crowdpac ceased operations in June 2019.
• if.then.fund^[9] — co-founded with Joshua Tauberer uses votes on legislation (and other congressional business) as the trigger for campaign contributions to re-elect or oppose members of Congress.^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}
• Ruck.us — which he joined in 2013 as co-Founder and COO^[14] —is a digital toolkit for down-ballot political candidates, he left his role as COO in 2016.
• Candi-Date^[15] (founded by Zucker in 2011) used nonprofit scorecards of incumbents to recommend candidates based on user interest.
• ActBlue^[16] — which he joined in March 2005 as the first employee, going on to serve as the first COO and second CEO (Executive Director) before leaving at end of 2008.

Campaign finance law

Zucker has been involved with numerous advisory opinion requests to the Federal Election Commission in the area of technology and fundraising, including:

• AO 2006-30, in which the FEC permitted fundraising for an individual who had not yet declared for office.^{[17] [18]}
• AO 2007-27, in which ActBlue requested permission to raise funds on behalf of Separate Segregated Funds.^[19]
• AOR 2007-35, in which Zucker advised FreeCause, Inc, in an attempt to receive permission to implement a browser tool bar that used commissions from online shopping to make contributions to political candidates. The FEC was unable to address the merits of the request due to it only having 2 members at the time of the request.^[20] The Office of General Counsel issued a draft opinion favorable to the request.^[21]
• AO 2008-08, in which Zucker sought clarification about the application of biennial contribution limits (these limits were overturned by the US Supreme Court in McCutcheon v. FEC) to a donation made to a future, as yet undetermined, candidate.^[22]
• AOR 2009-28, in which the FEC deadlocked on partisan lines in response to Zucker's request^[23] from a Separate Segregated Fund to accept earmarked contributions from non-members of the SSF.^[24] The initial draft from the FEC's Office of General Council provided a favorable answer to the request.^[25]
• AO 2011-06, in which Democracy Engine received permission to operate as a vendor, establishing a new model for political fundraising technology.^[26]
• AO 2014-07, in which Crowdpac received permission to operate as one of the most disruptive new forces in campaign finance.^[27]
• AO 2019-01, in which It Starts Today received permission to solicit conditional earmarked donations to future party nominees.^[28]

Education

Zucker holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale and a J.D. from Georgetown University.

External links

• It Starts Today
• Democracy Engine
• CrowdPac
• Ruck.us
• if.then.fund

Notes and References

1. Web site: Small Dollars, Big Impact for D.C. Political Fundraising Guru. re/code. 2015-07-20.
2. Web site: Maryland Attorneys List. Mdcourts.gov. 2015-03-09.
3. Web site: ZUCKER TAKES OVER ACTBLUE. Politico. 2015-07-20.
4. Web site: The Future of Fundraising . Democracy Engine . 2015-03-09.
5. Web site: Online Fundraising | Personal Democracy Forum . Personaldemocracy.com . 2010-01-11 . 2015-03-09.
6. Web site: 2018 Starts Today . It Starts Today . 2017-01-20.
7. Web site: Now You Can Save the Democratic Party for the Low, Low Price of $4.68 a Month . WIRED.com . 2017-01-19 . 2017-01-20.
8. Web site: The best objective data on US political candidates . Crowdpac . 2015-03-09.
9. Web site: Reshaping Congress by empowering small dollar donors. if.then.fund . 2015-03-28.
10. Web site: Campaign Finance Reform Turns to Reward and Punishment. New York Times . 2015-03-28.
11. Web site: Next-Generation Political Crowdfunding Platforms Reimagine Small Dollar Giving. techPresident. 2015-03-28.
12. Web site: How you (and a few thousand of your friends) can become the biggest donors in American politics. Washington Post. 2015-03-28.
13. Web site: This Web site allows political donors to give money based on how lawmakers vote. Just don't call it bribery.. Washington Post (Power Post). 2015-06-11. 2015-06-18.
14. Web site: Washington Post: Second Ruck.us co-founder takes job outside of the start-up.
15. Web site: Candi-Date . 2013-08-27 . 2015-03-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130827190317/http://www.candi-date.us/ . August 27, 2013 .
16. Web site: ZUCKER TAKES OVER ACTBLUE. Politico. 2015-07-20.
17. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2006-30. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
18. Web site: Liberals eye new cash machine - Kenneth P. Vogel . Politico.Com . 2015-03-09.
19. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2007-27. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
20. Web site: FEC Letter concerning Advisory Opinion Request 2007-35. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
21. Web site: FEC OGC Draft Advisory Opinion 2007-35. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
22. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2008-08. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
23. Web site: FEC Letter concerning Advisory Opinion Request 2009-28. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
24. Web site: FEC Unable to Issue Opinion on Whether Corporate PAC May Solicit General Public For Contributions Earmarked For Candidates. Hvjlaw.com. 2015-03-09.
25. Web site: FEC OGC Advisory Opinion Draft Advisory Opinion 2009-28. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
26. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2011-06. Saos.fec.gov. 2015-03-09.
27. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2014-07. Saos.fec.gov. 2018-01-23.
28. Web site: FEC Advisory Opinion 2019-01. Saos.fec.gov. 2019-07-12.