Independent Obama group raises $4.8 million in first quarter

By Gabriel Debenedetti

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The advocacy group dedicated to promoting President Barack Obama's agenda said more than 100,000 donors pitched in to give it just under $5 million in the first quarter of 2013, as it publicized its fundraising numbers for the first time.

Organizing For Action, which operates independently from the White House, said Friday it would release its first-quarter numbers and the names of major donors later in the day.

An email from executive director Jon Carson to supporters said the group received contributions from 109,582 donors, averaging $44 per donation. This adds up to more than $4.8 million.

OFA came under fire in February after the New York Times reported that donors who gave $500,000 or more could attend quarterly meetings with Obama. This report sparked accusations that the group was selling access to president, a charge rejected by White House press secretary Jay Carney.

The group has focused mainly on immigration reform and tightening gun controls, two of Obama's priorities that Congress is grappling with.

The group was spun off of Obama's re-election campaign and launched in January as the president began his second term. It is the first independent effort of its type to support a sitting president.

OFA's chairman is Jim Messina, who managed Obama's re-election campaign. Carson is a former White House staffer who most recently directed the Office of Public Engagement.

(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Editing by Fred Barbash and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/independent-obama-group-raises-4-8-million-first-142224238.html

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