Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping to excite grassroots supporters by giving them “some skin in the game” in his fundraising efforts.
Dubbed “Vivek’s Kitchen Cabinet,” Ramaswamy is rolling out a new program that allows supporters to earn a 10% cut of the money they help raise for his campaign.
The campaign touted the program as a way to “democratize political fundraising.”
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“As a political outsider and first-time candidate, I was stunned to discover the degree to which the political class cashes in on the electoral process. I found out that most professional political fundraisers get a cut of the money they raise—why should they monopolize political fundraising? They shouldn’t,” Ramaswamy said in a press release Monday.
“That’s why I started ‘Vivek’s Kitchen Cabinet,’ so everyone can get in on this. Go-getters can make 10% of the money they raise for our campaign. This isn’t just a grassroots campaign; this is a revolution,” he added.
According to the campaign, each participant, who will have to comply with FEC regulations, will receive a unique fundraising link that will track the amount of money that is contributed and incentives will be offered to high-earners which include “exclusive campaign swag, a personal call with Vivek, and invites to special events.”
A spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign told Fox News Digital that participants must pass a third-party criminal background check and will have to fill out a 1099 form, meaning they fall in the category of an independent contractor rather than being a campaign employee or volunteer.
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Notably, Ramaswamy has already met the RNC’s fundraising prerequisite to participate in the first GOP primary debate, which requires candidates to reach 40,000 unique donors. His campaign told Fox News Digital it exceeded 60,000 unique donors in early July.
In addition to signing a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, candidates will have to reach 1% in three RNC-recognized national polls, or 1% in two national polls and 1% in a poll conducted in one of the four early voting states in the GOP presidential nominating calendar – Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada – in the lead-up to the debate.
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While former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are far ahead in the polls, Ramaswamy did leapfrog into third place in the latest Fox News poll, which showed him with 5% support, besting former Vice President Mike Pence’s 4%, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s 4% and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 3%.
Trump maintained his dominance with 56% support among primary voters while DeSantis reached 22% in the Fox News poll from late June.
Fox News will be hosting the first GOP primary debate on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.