Eleanor Finch
Political campaigns are funded by a variety of sources, including individual donors, political action committees (PACs), super PACs, and other outside groups. In the United States, information about campaign donations is often publicly available, allowing citizens to track the money flowing into political campaigns and understand the interests and values of the donors. While donation limits exist for direct contributions to candidates, there are no limits on donations to super PACs, which can spend independently in support of or opposition to a candidate. This has led to a significant increase in outside spending and has made it challenging to fully understand the current campaign finance system. To address this, organizations like OpenSecrets and FollowTheMoney.org provide searchable databases that allow users to trace donations and understand the influence of money in politics.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Donor information availability | Publicly available financial disclosure records can be used to find out who has donated to a political campaign. |
| Donor anonymity | Anonymous cash contributions are limited to $50. Any amount exceeding $50 must be disposed of and used for a purpose unrelated to a federal election, campaign, or candidate. |
| Donor disclosure laws | Federal law requires the disclosure of contributions exceeding $200, including donors' names, addresses, occupations, and employer information, which then become a matter of public record. |
| FEC database | The Federal Election Commission (FEC) maintains a searchable database of donors, which can be filtered by recipient or contributor, and further narrowed by zip code, donor occupation, employer, contribution amount, etc. |
| State-level data | FollowTheMoney.org provides access to state campaign finance data, allowing users to select a specific state and office type to view donation details for specific races. |
| Non-profit organizations | Non-profit, non-partisan organizations like OpenSecrets (formerly the Center for Responsive Politics) provide access to campaign donation databases, allowing users to search by recipient or donor data. |
| Super PACs | Political action committees (PACs) that operate independently of candidates and have no limits on donation amounts. They often fund negative campaign ads. |
| Outside spending | Outside groups spent $298 million in the 2010 election, a fourfold increase compared to 2006, due to the lack of limits on Super PAC donations. |
| Influence of donations | Academic research suggests that elected officials are more responsive to donors, with access to meetings and the ability to influence a candidate's agenda. |
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What You'll Learn
Publicly available financial disclosure records
In the US, donations made to political campaigns are a matter of public record. All Senate, House, and presidential candidates, as well as any committees authorised to raise money for them, are required to report campaign donations to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The FEC, in turn, makes a wide range of federal campaign finance reports and other documents available for public review and inspection. The FEC has a searchable donor database that allows users to browse donors by recipient or contributor and further narrow results by zip code, donor occupation, employer, contribution amount, and more.
The FEC database also includes information on individuals who have made contributions to federally registered political committees. This data can be searched by the contributor's first and/or last name, employer or occupation, city, state and/or zip code, date of the contribution, or amount of the contribution.
In addition to the FEC, there are other organisations that track and provide information on political donations. One notable example is OpenSecrets, a non-profit, non-partisan research group dedicated to tracking money in US politics and its impact on elections and public policy. OpenSecrets has a searchable campaign donation database that allows users to trace donations to politicians and political committees at the federal and state levels. It also offers advanced search options to sort data by recipient or donor details such as occupation, employer, or zip code. It is worth noting, however, that OpenSecrets does not provide street address or phone information for contributors, and its data on donor contributions may not always be up-to-date.
Another resource for tracking state campaign finance data is FollowTheMoney.org, run by the National Institute on Money in Politics. This website allows users to select a specific state and office type to narrow down donation details for specific races. It also offers a search bar to look up individual contributions.
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Federal Election Commission (FEC) donor database
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) maintains a database of individuals who have made contributions to federally registered political committees. The FEC donor database is a valuable resource for those interested in tracking money in politics and understanding the influence of campaign donations on US elections and policy-making.
The FEC database includes detailed information on individual contributors, such as their names, employers, occupations, locations (including city, state, and zip code), and the dates and amounts of their contributions. It also provides information on the committees receiving the contributions, allowing users to search by committee or candidate. This level of detail enables users to identify patterns, connections, and potential influences between donors and recipients.
While the FEC database is comprehensive, it is important to note that it may not include smaller contributions. According to FEC rules, campaigns are not required to collect identifiable information for donations of $50 or less. Additionally, reporting requirements vary for state candidates, and some states may have higher thresholds for disclosing donor identities.
To complement the FEC database, individuals can also refer to resources provided by non-profit, non-partisan organizations like OpenSecrets (formerly known as the Center for Responsive Politics). OpenSecrets offers a searchable campaign donation database, including federal and state-level data. While OpenSecrets does not provide street addresses or phone numbers for contributors due to legal restrictions, it allows users to track money from influential organizations, lobbyists, and political action committees (PACs).
By utilizing the FEC donor database and complementary resources, individuals can gain valuable insights into the financial landscape of political campaigns, shedding light on the interests and influences that shape US elections and policies.
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Nonprofit, nonpartisan organisation OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets offers access to state and federal datasets on political contributions, expenditures, personal financial disclosures, candidate lists, and lobbying activities. Its website features a “politicians” section and a search tool to find specific politicians and donors. The organisation also provides workshops and training on money-in-politics data.
OpenSecrets' donor database includes records of individuals who contribute at least $200 to political campaigns, as smaller contributions are not part of the public record. The database allows users to search by recipient or donor, with filters for occupation, employer, zip code, contribution amount, and more.
The organisation's Get Local! tool enables users to select a candidate's state and access reports by donor, candidate, metro area, and more. Additionally, OpenSecrets provides industry profiles that uncover the influence of entire industries and economic sectors on political campaigns.
Overall, OpenSecrets is a valuable resource for those seeking to understand the role of money in American politics and its impact on elections and public policy.
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State campaign finance data
In addition to the FEC, there are several other organizations that provide access to state campaign finance data. OpenSecrets (formerly known as the Center for Responsive Politics) is a nonpartisan, independent nonprofit organization that tracks money in U.S. politics. Its donor lookup tool allows users to search for contributions to federal and state political committees, as well as candidates and political groups. OpenSecrets also provides data on lobbying activity and campaign expenditures by organizations and political action committees (PACs).
FollowTheMoney.org, hosted by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, is another resource for state campaign finance data. This website allows users to browse and search state-level data through the 2024 election year. Users can select a specific state and office type to narrow down donation details for specific races.
Other tools for accessing state campaign finance data include the Get Local! tool on OpenSecrets, which provides reports on donor, candidate, and metro-area information for each state, and state-specific resources such as the Illinois State Board of Elections database, which offers improved functionality for searching PAC contributions and donations in the state of Illinois.
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Political action committees (PACs)
Federal law formally allows for two types of PACs: connected and non-connected. A third classification, independent expenditure-only committees, are colloquially known as "super PACs". Most active, registered PACs are "connected PACs" or "corporate PACs", established by businesses, non-profits, labour unions, trade groups, or health organisations. These PACs receive and raise money from a "restricted class", generally consisting of managers and shareholders in the case of a corporation, or members in the case of a non-profit organisation, labour union or other interest group. Groups with an ideological mission, single-issue groups, and members of Congress and other political leaders may form "non-connected PACs".
PACs have been in existence since 1944, when the Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) formed the first one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The first PAC was the CIO-PAC, formed in July 1943 under CIO president Philip Murray and headed by Sidney Hillman. It was established after the U.S. Congress prohibited unions from giving direct contributions to political candidates.
Super PACs, officially known as "independent expenditure-only political action committees", are distinct from traditional PACs in that they may raise unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups to spend on, for example, ads overtly advocating for or against political candidates. However, they are not allowed to coordinate with or contribute directly to candidate campaigns or political parties. Super PACs are subject to the same organisational, reporting, and public disclosure requirements as traditional PACs.
Hybrid PACs are similar to super PACs but can give limited amounts of money directly to campaigns and committees while still making independent expenditures in unlimited amounts. Leadership PACs are often formed by politicians to raise money to help fund other candidates' campaigns, and they may contribute up to $5,000 per election to a federal candidate committee.
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Frequently asked questions
There are several ways to find out who donated to a political campaign. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) maintains a database of individuals who have made contributions to federally registered political committees. The FEC also has a searchable donor database that lets you browse donors by recipient or contributor and further narrow your results by zip code, donor occupation, employer, contribution amount, and more. You can also use third-party websites such as OpenSecrets, which is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics.
Yes, there are limits on the size of political contributions. For individuals, the maximum amount that can be donated directly to a specific candidate is $2,800. For contributions of $50 or less, campaigns are not required to collect any identifiable information about the donor. Any donations over $200 must be disclosed to the FEC, including the donor's name, address, occupation, and employer information.
A Super PAC, or Political Action Committee, is a group that can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions. Super PACs do not give directly to a candidate but spend money independently in support of or in opposition to them. This outside spending is completely uncapped, and Super PACs typically spend money on negative campaign ads.
Yes, donations made to political campaigns are public record. All Senate, House, and presidential candidates are required to report campaign donations to the FEC. You can search for an individual contributor by their last and/or first name, employer or occupation, city, state and/or zip code, date of the contribution, or amount of the contribution.
