The real reason to push for a large number of donors is math. If someone gives you $999,999 and someone else gives you $1, you can say your average donation is $500,000. That may not sound good, but it sounds a heck of a lot better than one donor giving a million dollars, thereby buying a politician.

All the money comes from a few rich donors, all the money that matters anyway. But that fact has to be obscured, lest people catch on. So the small-dollar donors are courted via email for headcount purposes only. It’s math, basic math, so the ruling class can pretend they aren’t beholden to large corporations and the mega-rich. Deadlines, dollar amounts, and everything else are all for show so you miss what’s really going on.