What do candidates do with donations?

[zanana1]

Is it just for advertising? Is it for traveling? Does the candidate with the most money win?

[Bettie]

1. They pay for high-priced consultants

who tell them to move to the right.

[bearsfootball516]

2. Anything campaign related is fair game.

Commercials, yard signs, mailers, travel expenses, event fees, campaign headquarters, paid staff, etc.

[cloudbase]

3. Having been a campaign treasurer for campaigns from the school board to district attorney, as well as a judicial PAC,

money gets spent on all kinds of things. Polling, consultants, printing, travel, advertising, you name it.
I considered much of it to be pissed away, but how it was spent wasn't my call.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Local Level

Yard signs, door tags, post cards, thank you notes, meet and greets. Social Media targeted advertising is used heavily by our local committee. We know folks live on FB in our 1.17 square mile borough. We set it to as close as the center point in town. We also normally do at least one ad for our candidates in the paper of record.

When I ran in 2023 - I had several gifts in kind. IE my ladies who tea party in crazy hats thrown by local Republican women who wanted me in office.

Ditto for State reps (NJ). Add in television and radio ads in district - as well as social media advertising.
I've held gift in kind fundraisers for our candidates. You max out, get donations when possible (food, beverage) and then all the money goes to the candidates for maximizing their reach across all platforms.