Democratic National Committee

President Barack Obama is converting the machinery of his re-election campaign into a tax-exempt nonprofit group to push his second-term legislative agenda, a Democratic official confirmed. The new group, Organizing for Action, will be headed by Jim Messina, who served as Obama’s 2012 campaign manager. The group, separate from the Democratic National Committee, will solicit donations from corporations and individuals to augment Obama’s legislative initiatives on such issues as reducing gun violence and overhauling immigration policy.

"Overall, we saw some very strong but very traditional campaigns — very few major risks or outside-the-box approaches," judge Dane Grams said. "Was this a wise choice? It seems like it was, as most of the results we reviewed were incredibly strong."

President Obama announced a fundraising haul of $181 million in September, the highest monthly total of his re-election campaign as 1.8 million people contributed. The September numbers include contributions to a joint fundraising unit through the Democratic National Committee. The September total tops the $114 raised in August.

Announcing the full list of the 2012 FundRaising Success Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence winners.

Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey received a platinum Big Idea Award for a campaign with The Trust for Public Land and 19 (for a total of 20) 2012 MAXI Awards for its direct-marketing efforts on behalf of 13 clients. The awards span multiple categories and include CCAH’s work in digital media, direct mail, multichannel and telemarketing.

The Romney campaign, along with its Romney Victory fund and the Republican National Committee, raised more than $100 million in June, obliterating the campaign's goal and setting the one-month record for any Republican campaign, according to a GOP official.

Now-President Barack Obama raised $150 million as he was surging in September 2008, the record month for any campaign.

The Romney campaign says much of the June haul came from new donors, with states from coast to coast outperforming their targets.

The creators of a newly approved political donation-by-text message platform find themselves at a boom-or-bust juncture.

In their perfect world, the Republican and Democratic national conventions will be political telethons of sorts, where viewers instantaneously text $10 to “OBAMA” or “ROMNEY” — a potential windfall for all.

But at the moment, the companies who want to run the donations by text message system are in drawn-out talks with major mobile phone carriers to figure out how it will all work and how much of a cut everyone will take.

Mitt Romney’s campaign fundraising significantly outpaced President Obama’s effort for the first time last month, increasing the likelihood that the Republican presidential candidate and his allies will far outspend their Democratic opponents by November.

Romney and the Republican National Committee said Thursday that they raised a combined $76.8 million in May, which is nearly as much as the presumed nominee brought in during the GOP primary season. Obama and the Democratic National Committee amassed $60 million in what was their best month so far, campaign officials said.

President Obama has stepped up his fundraising pace, amassing $45 million for his re-election and the Democratic National Committee in February, his campaign announced Monday.

The haul outpaces the $29.1 million Obama raised for himself and the Democratic Party in January. It still trails what he collected at this point four years ago as he made his first bid for the White House.

Financial disclosure forms filed with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday show GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the super PAC supporting his candidacy raising millions of dollars more than his rivals, while also outspending fellow candidates nearly two to one. Romney took in $12 million in February, according to his financial filing, the highest of any GOP presidential candidate. Rick Santorum raised $9 million.

When combined with money raised by their respective super PACs, Romney and his allies took in a total $18.4 million, compared to the $12 million Santorum and his aligned super PAC raised.