Understanding the Financial Contributions in Political Campaigns of Your Connections
Discovering someone's political leanings and passions can sometimes be sneakily accomplished by examining the financial backing they've provided to various campaigns. Occasionally, you'll uncover unsuspected revelations or understand that money contributions aren't solely dictated by political party affiliation. There might also be instances where an organization that promotes specific values financially votes against its stated beliefs.
If you're curious about your relative, neighbor, employer, or preferred company's political contributions, the required information can easily be retrieved from accessible financial disclosure documents.
Are political donations publicly accessible?
Political donations are generally considered public information. Candidates running for the Senate, House, or President, along with authorized fundraising committees, are required to report all campaign donations to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The FEC mandates campaign records to list all contributions, yet the detail of information collected and disclosed varies depending on donation amount.
For contributions under $50 (such as cash raised during events), campaigns are not bound to gather any identifying details from the donor.
Reporting procedures also diverge depending on the state, as outlined in state laws. For instance, campaigns might not be obligated to reveal donor identities if small-dollar contributions don't exceed $50–$100.
How to monitor contributions to national campaigns
The FEC maintains a searchable database of donors that allows you to browse donors by recipient or contributor, further filtering results based on zip code, donor occupation, employer, contribution amount, and more.
Navigating FEC reports can be daunting, though. Instead, consider a more user-friendly alternative – the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization OpenSecrets (formerly the Center for Responsive Politics), which investigates election and political finance matter in the United States. OpenSecrets supplies a searchable campaign donation database. By utilizing this database, you can identify which campaigns or candidates a donor has supported. You can also utilize the advanced search feature to sort contributions by recipient or donor data like occupation, employer, or zip code.
Credit: Emily Long
OpenSecrets' Get Local! tool is another option. Select the candidate’s state from the drop-down menu, and you can generate various reports by donor, candidate, metro area, and more. The same tool offers a zip code search, enabling you to narrow down donation listings to your vicinity.
How to keep tabs on contributions to state and local campaigns
The FEC only collects data on federal campaigns and candidates. For tracking contributions to state and local campaigns, refer to the nonprofit platform FollowTheMoney.org. Until future integration, the Center for Responsive Politics will manage all available data.
In the short term, FollowTheMoney.org offers browsing and search functionalities for state campaign finance data up to the 2024 election year. Select your state of interest from the map, which will open a new tab detailing a state summary. You can further narrow your search by picking the desired office type (e.g., gubernatorial) and exploring specific donation details for individual races.
An additional alternative is to explore the Tools section from the map, selecting your state and election cycle. Finally, enter a name into the main search bar to access an individual's contributions and campaign funds, if applicable.
If FollowTheMoney.org doesn't meet your requirements, consider accessing your state's campaign finance or election commission website to peruse disclosure forms.
There are also state-based organizations like the Virginia Public Access Project, which track money in regional elections. A simple Google search with phrases like “campaign disclosures [state]” should help find these organizations in your area.
To track down how much money was donated to a specific campaign, you can utilize the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) searchable database, which allows you to filter contributions based on various factors. However, for donations under $50, identifiable details might not be provided due to reporting regulations.
When it comes to monitoring national campaign donations, OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization, provides a user-friendly searchable database that lists contributions by recipient or donor, offering additional filtering options like occupation, employer, and zip code. This tool can help you identify which campaigns or candidates a donor has supported.
