“We’ve been able to break every fundraising record in history,” said Ron Kaufman, a former chairman of the RNC’s budget committee. “It helps to have a House and a Senate. It helps to have two thirds of the governors Republican. It helps to have a gain of a thousand legislative seats across the country. And it helps to win elections.”

It also helps when the face of the Republican Party, Trump, communicates so openly with his base of rabid fans. The RNC uses Trump’s tweets to channel his voice, soliciting contributions and messages of support when the president calls for building a wall along the border with Mexico or picks a fight with Senate Democrats. Those more personalized pitches, crafted in Trump’s voice, have spurred a wave of more than 300,000 first-time contributors.