Amy McGrath, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky, never really stood a chance of beating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, her party’s longtime nemesis. Throughout the race, she polled a distant 10 percentage points behind the incumbent. McGrath ended up losing by some 20 percentage points. But for many of the donors who poured a total of $88 million into her campaign, giving to McConnell’s opponent simply felt good—regardless of whether it was a productive use of money.McGrath raised almost three-fifths of her funds from donors who each gave less than $200.