Outside groups set up to benefit specific candidates have raised twice as much as the candidates themselves so far in the 2016 presidential race — and groups reported to have close ties to a candidate account for 96 percent of total outside fundraising. This connection to the candidates is crucial to the fundraising success of the highest-performing outside groups. In the past, groups and candidates were more reluctant to explicitly tie themselves together. But this cycle, shadow campaigns seem more brazen than ever about telegraphing their connections to candidates — and big donors are rewarding those groups that have close ties.