As donors pick up the pace, the goal of raising $40.6 million is met, and money is still coming in.

Let the naysayers say nay no longer. Denver's committee hosting the Democratic National Convention has raised the cash expected of it.

After struggling for more than a year and a half, and missing its June deadline by $11 million, the committee responsible for raising $40.6 million in private cash that finances the convention has met its goal.

"I think you have to give credit where credit is due," said Eric Sondermann, a political consultant and analyst. "(Denver Mayor John) Hickenlooper has been tenacious about this and never gave up, even when a lot of people figured we would have to make this a success even if it has to be scaled down."

Hickenlooper told City Council members Tuesday that the host committee is continuing to raise the $4 million to $6 million needed to stage the final night at Invesco Field at Mile High. The shift, announced last month, wasn't part of the original contract.

But the extra work Invesco makes for the committee has been more than offset by the fact the venue offers extra fundraising opportunities, the mayor said.

"In the last four weeks, our rate of fundraising is between two and three times what it was," Hickenlooper said in an interview. "The (Invesco) fundraising will be done by Friday."

Hickenlooper has spent dozens of nights and weekends and crisscrossed the country seeking donors. To a lesser extent, Gov. Bill Ritter and Sen. Ken Salazar also have been seeking donors.

Meanwhile, Denver fundraising giant, lobbyist and attorney Steve Farber had staked his reputation on getting the bills paid, reaching out to contacts near and far.

The mayor said moving Barack Obama's acceptance speech to the 76,000-seat football stadium helped enormously because it generated such excitement and because it offered big-money donors twice as many suites as the Pepsi Center, where the bulk of the convention is to be held.

"With Invesco Field, you can do much nicer packages," Hickenlooper said.

Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez said the committee also had met its obligations in acquiring about $11 million in donated goods and services.

The committee agreed to raise the $51 million in donated services and cash when the city signed its contract with the Democratic National Convention Committee in January 2007.

In early June, the committee scrapped plans for 24 parties meant to welcome delegates at prime Denver locations.

And tensions over the lack of fundraising progress led to a public flare-up between the DNCC and the host committee. The DNCC issued a statement admonishing the committee to scale back on some public events and focus on its primary obligations.

Meanwhile, the host committee's efforts have allowed a host of critics — Obama among them — to argue that the system for funding the conventions is a money-for-access campaign finance loophole, because donors aren't restricted in how much they can give.

Obama, the Democrats' presumptive nominee, has called for the system to be revamped in time for the next convention cycle.

His concerns haven't kept his campaign from using the Invesco seats and suites to raise cash, but the Invesco move also insulates him from critics in that he has allowed tens of thousands of members of the public to see his acceptance speech, experts say.

At his office Tuesday, Hickenlooper appeared refreshed.

"Once the fundraising goes well," the mayor said, "everything else becomes more fun."