BNA's Web Watch - Campaign Finance Tools

American University’s Campaign Finance Web Site
American University School of Communication provides access to Internet accessible, database-formatted campaign finance data from the Federal Election Committee. The databases can be searched for candidate information, candidates for specific house and senate races, or you can create your own summary tables and queries.

Annenberg Public Policy Center
Issue Adds, National Annenberg Election Survey of 2004, and FactCheck.org
The University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy has developed three useful campaign-related databases. The Center provides access to a database of organizations that are involved with issue advocacy advertising. The National Annenberg Election Survey of 2004 is the largest academic election poll conducted and will survey American voters attitudes toward the presidential candidates, the traits they consider most important in a president, and the issues most important to the voting public. The third database – FactCheck.org monitors the “factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.”
Home
Issue Adds
National Annenberg Election Survey of 2004
FactCheck.org

Campaign Finance Center (IRE)
The Campaign Finance Information Center has developed a site that helps journalists follow the campaign money trail -- on the national, state and local levels. The site is subscription-based but it provides access to Power Search – a database that monitors political contributions that cross state lines in both federal and state campaigns. Search for contributions to candidates, how the candidates spend the donations, contributions from PACS, candidate committees, and political party committees.
Power Search
The Campaign Finance Information Center also provides access to state campaign finance information, links, and state campaign databases.

Center for Public Integrity - Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest
”The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that conducts investigative research and reporting on public policy issues in the United States and around the world.”

The Center for Public Integrity offers a searchable database of the Major 527 Organizations through its 527 Database Search. Search options include contributions, committees, and expenditures.

Pre-designed searches have also been set up for quick searching they include:
Overall expenditures made by 527 committees
Expenditures by 527 committee type
Major 527 organizations by amount spent
Major recipients of 527 committee spending
Spending by 527 committees in each state
Advertising expenses paid by 527 committees

Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. Search for information on members of Congress, Congressional Committees, Political Parties, presidential data, congressional races, and advocacy groups.

Common Cause - Soft Money Laundromat
Common Cause has put together a database of special interest soft money contributions to the Democratic and Republican national party committees. The database – Soft Money Laundromat can be searched by donor name, location searches (state and city), and by industry.

The Institute on Money and State Politics
The Institute on Money and State Politics tracks contributions in all 50 states and makes this data searchable. Search by candidate, by state, donors, and recipients.

Political Money Line
Politicalmoneyline.com, the inspiration of Kent Cooper, Tony Raymond, and Kirk Ervin, utilizes Federal Election Commission data and provides free and fee-based database on presidential and congressional candidates, Political Action Committees, individual contributors, lobbying organizations, and 527 organizations. Find information on candidates, donors, PACs and Parties, Foreign Agents, 501(c)(4) & 501(c)(6) Orgs, and lobbyists.

Public Citizen – Congress Watch and Whitehouseforsale.org
Public Citizen – Congress Watch and Whitehouseforsale.org track those groups and individuals who contribute to the presidential candidates for the 2004 election.