Fundraising & Ads
Money is the oxygen of a campaign. This page covers how you earn it, how you spend it efficiently, and where it's wasted. For upgrade-tier math (Ground Game, Opposition Research, Media Spending) see Campaign Strategy.
Your Two Money Pools
Non-interchangeable:
- Campaign Funds β what you spend on ads, polls, donor base, NPP influence, party taxes, personal campaign donations. Starts at β³250,000. All the actions in this page drain this pool.
- Cash on Hand β personal liquid cash. Only spent on wire transfers (Portfolio page) or converted into Campaign Funds at 50% via the Personal Campaign Donation action. Starts at β³0.
If you see "ββ³100,000" next to an action, it's Campaign Funds unless the action explicitly says "personal cash."
Fund Generation Per Turn
Every turn your Campaign Funds grow by a sum of three components:
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Base rate | A small fixed amount |
| Donor bonus | donorLevel Γ per-tier-rate (by home state population) |
| Office bonus | Tier-based fixed amount while in office |
Donor Base Income by State Population Tier
| Tier | Threshold | Per level per turn |
|---|---|---|
| Small | < 2M | +β³100 |
| Medium | 2β8M | +β³200 |
| Large | 8β20M | +β³400 |
| Mega | > 20M | +β³800 |
A Level 5 donor base in Pennsylvania (medium tier) yields β³1,000/turn passively; the same level 5 in California (mega tier) yields β³4,000/turn.
Office Fund Bonuses
| Office | Per turn |
|---|---|
| US House | +β³5,000 |
| US State Senate | +β³3,000 |
| US Senate | +β³15,000 |
| US Vice President | +β³25,000 |
| US Governor | +β³15,000 |
| US President | +β³50,000 |
| UK MP / DE MdB / JP Sangiin/ShΕ«giin | equivalent tier |
| UK / DE / JP Prime Minister / Chancellor | equivalent top tier |
Fundraise Action
- Cost: 3 actions, free (no money up front)
- Returns:
β³50,000 + β³2,000 Γ donor base level - Requires: Donor base level β₯ 1 (every character starts at 1)
At level 1: +β³52,000 per fundraise. At level 5: +β³60,000. At level 10: +β³70,000.
Fundraise is most efficient when your donor base is high. A level 3 donor base fundraise (β³56k return, 3 actions) is ~18.7k per action; a level 1 fundraise is ~17.3k per action.
Build Donor Network
- Cost: 4β20 actions (tiered by current level) and
β³3,000 + β³1,500 Γ current levelscaled by state GDP per capita (0.85β2.0Γ). At national-average GDP, level 1β2 costs ~β³4.5k. - Effect: Donor base level +1
- Recovery window: ROI depends on state tier
In a medium-tier state (+β³200/turn per level), level 1β2 at ~β³4.5k generates +β³200/turn extra passive income. Breakeven: ~23 turns (~1 real day). The level also improves fundraise yield by β³2k permanently β breakeven on that part is ~2 fundraises.
In a mega-tier state (+β³800/turn per level), the math shortens further β ~6 turns to break even on passive income alone.
Ads (Run Advertisements)
- Cost: 5β9 actions (tiered by favorability), fund cost scaled by state GDP (~β³100k at national average)
- Effect: +1 to +3 Favorability, with diminishing returns above 70.
Practical yields:
| Current Favorability | Expected delta per ad |
|---|---|
| 50 | +2 to +3 |
| 60 | +2 |
| 70 | +1 to +2 |
| 75 | +1 |
| 80+ | <1 (often rounds to 0) |
Above 75 Favorability, each ad delivers a fraction of a point. Above 80 you're almost certainly lighting money on fire.
Out-of-State Cost Multipliers
Interpersonal actions (Support, Attack, Barnstorm) cost more when targeting a politician outside your home state:
- Home state: 1.0Γ
- Neighbouring state: 1.25Γ
- Non-neighbour: 1.5Γ
Campaign and Advertise action costs are scaled by state GDP per capita, not by adjacency.
Ad Targeting
When you run an ad, you choose a demographic group (or "broad" for untargeted). Targeted ads give slightly higher effective Favorability gain on that group than untargeted. In competitive generals with a known Full Poll, target the 2β3 weakest groups and leave the others alone.
Campaign Action
- Cost: 1β5 actions (tiered by PI), fund cost scaled by state GDP
- Effect: +1 Political Influence
The workhorse. Every character runs dozens of Campaign actions per week.
- Political Influence decays at 0.75% of current value per turn. A single Campaign action per turn is more than enough to offset decay at low PI; at PI=80 you need +1 per turn to grow, which means ~1 Campaign action per turn just to maintain.
- At PI=100 (max), you can stop Campaigning without much loss because decay of 0.75 rolls you back to ~99 and you barely notice.
Party Tax
When you're in a party, a percentage of your fundraising and per-turn fund generation goes to the party treasury:
- Set by party leadership (Chair and Treasurer).
- Ranges 0%β33%.
- Applied to gross income:
fundraise earnings Γ (1 β taxRate)arrives in your Campaign Funds. - National parties and regional parties can have different rates β your contribution goes to the relevant treasury.
A 20% party tax on a β³100k fundraise yields β³80k to you, β³20k to the party treasury. High-tax parties run more coordinated NPP operations but cost members more; low-tax parties let members retain more but spend less party-wide.
Campaign Page Budget (Upgrades & Maintenance)
Once you're a candidate, your campaign page gets its own budget pool with passive income, upgrades (Ground Game, Media Spending, Opposition Research), and maintenance costs. These are distinct from your personal Campaign Funds.
- Passive income by fundraising level: β³20kββ³5M/turn, 10 levels, upgrade-gated.
- Maintenance on Ground Game / Media Spending tiers deducts each turn.
- If the campaign can't cover next turn's maintenance, levels auto-downgrade (Media first, Ground Game second).
- Insolvent campaigns survive with passive income rebuilding funds β but pay downgraded effects.
Full breakdown: Campaign Strategy β Strategic Upgrades.
Personal Campaign Donation
- Cost: 2 actions + amount of Cash on Hand you choose
- Effect: 50% of amount arrives in Campaign Funds; 50% stays as Cash on Hand for the recipient if they differ
- Infamy: Scales with size of donation
Used mostly for wealthy characters with significant Cash on Hand wanting to convert to Campaign Funds, or to fund another player's campaign. It triggers an Infamy tick β small donations add little, large ones (5-figure+) can accumulate.
Fundraising Priority Hierarchy
For a new player:
- Spend starting actions on first Build Donor Network to Level 2. Immediate ROI on passive income and fundraise yield.
- Fundraise regularly at Level 2+ to refill Campaign Funds.
- Ads only when Favorability is below your target (60 minimum, 70 optimal for most races). Don't ad-spam above 75.
- Build Donor Network when you can afford it β each level compounds permanently.
- Upgrade your Campaign page fundraising level once you're a candidate.
- Party Tax consideration β if your party is high-tax (25%+), factor it into fundraise math. A β³100k fundraise at 25% tax gives you β³75k net.
Related
- Stats & Actions β Full action cost reference.
- Campaign Strategy β Campaign page upgrades with maintenance math.
- Campaign Manager β The /campaign/[id] page.
- Demographics & Targeting β Where to aim ads.
- Parties β Party tax, treasury operations.
- Canvassing β Turnout-boosting alternative to ads.