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Jeb Bush speaking in Norfolk, Va., on Friday.Credit Jay Westcott/Reuters

Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, which to date has raised significantly more than his Republican rivals’, is encountering difficulties maintaining its torrid pace as Mr. Bush slips in the polls and top party donors continue to withhold their commitments.

A finance aide for Mr. Bush sent an email to contributors Friday with an invitation to a breakfast fund-raiser in Washington next month, with a pointed plea that the former Florida governor’s supporters find new donors.

“Please note — this is new money only,” wrote Sarah Corsaro, the staff member, using bold for emphasis. She said, “We are utilizing this event to drive in new funds” for the next quarterly fund-raising disclosure.

The email suggests that in his initial push to raise money after announcing his candidacy in June, Mr. Bush maximized his support among backers in the Washington area capable of giving the $2,700 legally allowed, and that the campaign is now eager to add wealthy donors who have previously not contributed to Mr. Bush.

The co-chair committee for the $1,000-per-person breakfast indicates why Mr. Bush is so focused on finding new donors: It is a list heavy with family, friends, and former aides and loyalists to his father, brother and himself.

Mr. Bush raised a combined $114 million for his campaign and “super PAC” in the first half of the year, but with Donald J. Trump unexpectedly surging and Mr. Bush falling in Republican polls, some of the party’s top money raisers are remaining on the fence in terms of supporting Mr. Bush.

This reluctance, and the prospect of a hard-fought Republican contest that could last well into 2016, has prompted Mr. Bush to institute cost-saving measures in his campaign. Some aides have seen their pay cut back as part of an effort to curtail spending.

And on Friday, three of the candidate’s Florida fund-raising consultants left the campaign after apparently clashing with the new leadership team Mr. Bush installed in June. Mr. Bush’s hard-charging campaign manager, Danny Diaz, has pushed staffers to work longer hours and be more cost conscious.

Tim Miller, communications director for Mr Bush, said: “Ann Herberger is his longtime fund-raising consultant in Florida. We have a full-time finance staff in Miami HQ, as well. These are consultants with multiple clients. We moved in a different direction.”