By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton's top campaign finance officer told supporters and donors on a national conference call on Monday to try to raise $27,000 each within the next 30 days, according to a person who took part in the call.
The target represents the initial push by Clinton's campaign to raise hard money - cash donated directly to a candidate under rules limiting contributions to $2,700 per individual and $5,000 per couple - to compete in Democratic primary races throughout the country.
The figure was the first indication of how Clinton hopes to compete with Republicans who have been raking in millions in early fundraising efforts.
The money is being raised exclusively for primaries and not for the general election, donors were told, according to the source, who noted that the idea of giving a target so early in the campaign seemed novel.
By contrast, President Barack Obama's campaign team in 2012 told donors and bundlers - people who collect contributions from colleagues and family to give to a campaign - they had to raise $500,000 to become members of the campaign's national finance committee. But they were not given timed targets.
It is not clear from the individual target how much the campaign hopes to raise in the next month. A spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about how many people dialed in to the call, which followed an email blast on Sunday from Clinton's campaign finance chair, Dennis Cheng.
The call seemed designed to rally donors and fundraisers, according to the source. Top Clinton aide Huma Abedin called in from the road to greet donors, saying she and Clinton had just finished lunch in Ohio and were having a good time on their road trip to Iowa, the source said.
A campaign staff member also read out a list of regional finance officers for Clinton's campaign. They included people who had previously worked for campaigns for Obama, U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and former Vice President Al Gore's 2000 presidential bid, the source said.