OpenSecrets.org
Mission: To “inform citizens about how money in politics affects their lives, empower voters and activists by providing unbiased information, and advocate for a transparent and responsive government.”
Mix one part money-in-politics, online data hub and one part educational resource and you’ll get OpenSecrets.org, the website for the Center of Responsive Politics. OpenSecrets summarizes information from tens of millions of public records, making it easy for the public not just to know about the influence of money and lobbyists on our political system, but also to understand the tricky concepts, terms, and jargon related to campaign finance.
Current Democracy Work
OpenSecrets’ detailed reports and award-winning blog—which features groundbreaking original reporting about money in politics—are vital to the movement. The site not only tracks all of the money raised by politicians, parties, and other political committees, showing where it’s from and where it’s spent, but also slices and dices the data so users can see, for example, which industries give the most to a particular candidate or how much a company’s employees donate to the Democratic versus Republican parties. OpenSecrets also tracks dark money groups and where their money goes. Another section of the site provides similar analysis of the money spent on lobbying and examines Congressmen and -women’s personal financial disclosure statements.
Recent Successes
Its blog, data, and other resources are recently and frequently quoted in major media outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, and most major cable news channels.
Your Entry Points
Apply for one of OpenSecret's paid internship opportunities to unite in the efforts to keep politics fair and voters informed. You can also stay informed about the issues through OpenSecrets’ much-lauded blog and online reports. The site also features a very detailed Take Action page that explains major initiatives in money-in-politics transparency that the Center for Responsive Politics supports, provides entry points, and even includes an action “wish list” that asks you to help advocate for policies that aren’t on Washington’s radar now, but that you can help draw attention to.