Ken Jones is never overly chatty when it comes to dishing the numbers on fundraising for the Republican National Convention, but the Tampa Bay Host Committee president and CEO said Thursday they are good -- "significantly higher" than the $15 million announced in August.

"We had a Dec. 31st goal for fundraising, and we exceeded it; we exceeded it substantially," Jones said. He also said there's "a lot more in the pipeline" in the next 30 to 60 days, and that fundraisers are getting a good response from every donor category. But he declined to provide further details.

The host committee, a nonprofit organization, is trying to raise $55 million to support the convention, scheduled Aug. 27-30 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Committee leaders have said they expect to raise 45 percent of their money in Florida.