OpenSecrets

Campaign finance, lobbying, and dark money database for US politics.

Built for journalism

Adequate

https://www.opensecrets.org · Reviewed 2026-04-02 · Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit

What should journalists know about OpenSecrets?

OpenSecrets is the single most important database for tracking political money in the United States. Campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures, revolving door records, personal financial disclosures, dark money flows, 527 organizations — it is all here, cleaned, coded, and searchable. The raw data originates from the FEC, Senate Office of Public Records, IRS 990 filings, and state agencies. OpenSecrets standardizes employer names, applies industry codes to PACs and individual contributions, and manually inputs dark money data from 990 forms — work the FEC does not do. The 2021 merger with the National Institute on Money in Politics (FollowTheMoney.org) added state-level campaign finance for all 50 states. In late 2024 the organization laid off a third of its staff due to funding shortfalls, which is worth knowing: the data is still being updated, but the pace may slow. Lobbying data through 2025 shows firms took in a record $5 billion. Every political reporter in America uses this.

Best for

Tracking campaign donations to specific candidates or from specific donors. Investigating lobbying expenditures by industry or company. Following the revolving door between government and private sector. Researching dark money and outside spending groups. Pulling bulk datasets for data journalism projects.

Not for

State and local campaign finance before 2006 (FollowTheMoney coverage starts there). Non-US political finance. Real-time contribution tracking — FEC filing lag means data can be weeks or months behind. Granular ward- or precinct-level donation analysis. Since the API was discontinued in 2025, programmatic access now requires bulk downloads or custom arrangements.

Security & Privacy

Encryption in transit Yes

Data is scrambled while being sent to their servers

Encryption at rest Yes

Data is scrambled when stored on their servers

Data jurisdiction United States (Washington, DC).

Where servers are located — affects which governments can request your data

Security rating Adequate

OpenSecrets is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. No account required for most searches. Bulk data downloads require a free registered account. OpenSecrets does not sell user data. Standard web analytics present. All political finance data is derived from public government records.

How to protect yourself:

No account needed for basic searches. Cross-reference OpenSecrets data with FEC.gov filings directly for the most current numbers. Use bulk data downloads for large-scale analysis (API no longer available). Check the data cycle dates — contribution data can lag by weeks or months depending on FEC filing schedules. Dark money data from IRS 990s lags even further, sometimes a year or more.

Nonprofit-operated public database built from government records. No account required for most use. Standard web analytics present. Low-risk for journalists — the data you are searching is already public. Bulk data account requires email registration.

Who Owns This

Owner OpenSecrets (formed 2021 from merger of Center for Responsive Politics, est. 1983, and National Institute on Money in Politics)

Funding Nonprofit. Funded by foundations (Carnegie Corporation, Democracy Fund, Hewlett Foundation, Omidyar Network, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, others), individual donations, and some earned revenue from research fees and data contracts.

Business model 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Free public resource. No advertising revenue. Revenue was $2.5M in 2023 against $4.3M in expenses. Laid off ~10 employees (a third of staff) in late 2024 due to funding gaps. Executive director Hilary Braseth cited donors shifting to partisan causes over nonpartisan infrastructure. Organization remains operational into 2026 but at reduced capacity.

Known issues

API discontinued April 2025 — developers must now use bulk data downloads or request custom data solutions. Bulk data tables lag months behind the website. Data update frequency is a couple of times per year for current cycle, timing dependent on staff capacity. Dark money data from IRS 990 forms can lag a year or more behind real-time spending. FEC data does not include state-level races filed only with state agencies. After 2024 layoffs (one-third of staff), update cadence and research output may slow. Occasional data errors exist; some require confirmation from the original government source before correction. The organization's financial position remains precarious — $2.5M revenue vs. $4.3M expenses in 2023.

Pricing

Free. Bulk data downloads require a free account and approval. API was discontinued in April 2025 — custom data solutions available by contacting OpenSecrets directly.

This is an editorial assessment based on publicly available information as of 2026-04-02, using our published methodology. Independent security review is pending. Security posture can change at any time. This is not a guarantee of safety.

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