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(Top)
1
History
Toggle History subsection
1.1
Center for Responsive Politics
1.2
National Institute on Money in Politics
1.3
Leadership history
2
See also
3
References
4
External links
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Coordinates
:
38°54′13″N
77°01′48″W

/

38.9037°N 77.0300°W

/
38.9037; -77.0300
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Government watchdog group based in the U.S.
OpenSecrets
Founded
1983
;
43
years ago
(
1983
)
[
1
]
Founders
Frank Church
Hugh Scott
Merger
of
Center for Responsive Politics
National Institute on Money in Politics
Type
Research
Tax ID no.
52-1275227
[
2
]
Legal
status
501(c)(3)
[
2
]
Focus
Campaign finance in the United States
Location
Washington, D.C.
Coordinates
38°54′13″N
77°01′48″W

/

38.9037°N 77.0300°W

/
38.9037; -77.0300
Region served
United States
Chair
,
board of directors
Bert Brandenburg
[
3
]
Executive director
Hilary Braseth (December 2023 – present)
[
4
]
[
5
]
Revenue
$2.5 million
[
2
]
(2023)
Expenses
$4.3 million
[
2
]
(2023)
Website
opensecrets.org
OpenSecrets
is an American
nonprofit organization
based in
Washington, D.C.
, that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a
revolving door
database that documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and
lobbying firms
and may have
conflicts of interest
.
[
6
]
[
7
]
[
8
]
[
9
]
It was created from the 2021 merger of the
Center for Responsive Politics
(
CRP
) and the
National Institute on Money in Politics
(
NIMP
), both of which were organizations that tracked data on
campaign finance in the United States
and advocated for stricter regulation and disclosure of political donations.
[
10
]
[
11
]
[
12
]
[
13
]
[
14
]
Examples of investigations conducted by the organization include uncovering that Carolina Rising, a
501(c)(4)
social welfare
organization spent $4.7 million in 2014 on political ads in support of
Thom Tillis
, Senate candidate from
North Carolina
,
[
15
]
and identifying that the
Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
was financially related to the rally that preceded the
January 6 United States Capitol attack
.
[
16
]
The organization is funded by donations. Since 2020, the largest donors have been: the
Carnegie Corporation of New York
,
Democracy Fund
, the Gaia Fund,
Google
, the
Hewlett Foundation
, the Kaphan Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the
Omidyar Network
,
Open Society Foundations
, the Popplestone Foundation, and the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
.
[
17
]
In 2023, the organization reported $2.5 million in revenue and $4.3 million in expenses.
[
2
]
In 2024, having serious financial difficulties, OpenSecrets laid off a third of its staff.
[
18
]
History
[
edit
]
Center for Responsive Politics
[
edit
]
The
Center for Responsive Politics
was founded in 1983 by retired two U.S. Senators,
Frank Church
of
Idaho
of the
Democratic Party
, and
Hugh Scott
of
Pennsylvania
of the
Republican Party
.
[
1
]
In the 1980s, Church and Scott launched a "money-in-politics" project, whose outcome consisted of large, printed books. Their first book,
Spending in Congressional Elections: A Never-Ending Spiral
, published in 1988, analyzed spending patterns in congressional elections from 1974 through 1986, including 1986
soft money
contributions in five states. The first data was published by CRP in 1990 and the website OpenSecrets.org was launched in 1996, making the data more readily available.
[
1
]
[
19
]
[
20
]
National Institute on Money in Politics
[
edit
]
The
National Institute on Money in Politics
traces its roots to the "Money in Western Politics" project launched in 1991 and funded by the
MacArthur Foundation
. Prior to 1991, data was not digitized and therefore, was not easily available. In 1999, three regional teams merged to form NIMP, based in
Helena, Montana
. The organization published the Follow The Money website, where it compiled political funding information from government disclosure agencies.
[
21
]
The organization did not receive any government funding and relied on philanthropic efforts;
[
21
]
among its donations received was $2.3 million in funding from
Open Society Foundations
.
[
22
]
[
better
source
needed
]
Leadership history
[
edit
]
Sheila Krumholz
, who joined the organization in 1989, was the executive director of OpenSecrets and its predecessor from December 2006, having previously served as research director, until December 2023.
[
23
]
[
5
]
See also
[
edit
]
Institute for Nonprofit News
(member)
References
[
edit
]
1
2
3
Harvey, Kerric (January 2014).
Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics
.
Sage Publishing
. p.
252.
ISBN
9781452290263
.
1
2
3
4
5
"Opensecrets - Nonprofit Explorer"
.
ProPublica
. May 9, 2013
. Retrieved
December 27,
2024
.
↑
"OpenSecrets: Board of Directors"
.
OpenSecrets
.
↑
"OpenSecrets Welcomes Hilary Braseth as New Executive Director"
.
1
2
"Press Release: Executive Director Sheila Krumholz to Leave Open Secrets"
(Press release). OpenSecrets. May 9, 2023.
↑
Wiist, William (March 3, 2010).
The Bottom Line or Public Health: Tactics Corporations Use to Influence Health and Health Policy, and What We Can Do to Counter Them
.
Oxford University Press
. p.
149.
ISBN
9780199704927
.
↑
"Revolving Door"
.
OpenSecrets
.
↑
Giorno, Taylor (May 6, 2023).
"Over 500 Former Government Officials Are Now Lobbying for Defense Contractors"
.
Truthout
.
↑
"Reporting Raises Questions About Washington's Potential Political Conflicts Of Interest"
.
WBUR-FM
. June 12, 2019.
↑
Drake, Philip (June 3, 2021).
"Helena-based political transparency group merges with another watchdog"
.
Helena Independent Record
.
↑
O'Connor, Maura (April 4, 2012).
"National Institute on Money in State Politics"
.
Columbia Journalism Review
.
↑
Suderman, Alan (May 16, 2014).
"Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads"
.
Center for Public Integrity
.
↑
Farnam, T.W. (January 23, 2013).
"Florida group wants to end caps on campaign donations"
.
The Washington Post
.
↑
Stassen-Berger, Rachel (December 3, 2014).
"Money in State Politics report: Minnesota fails disclosure test, again"
.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
.
↑
Maguire, Robert (October 27, 2015).
"Carolina Rising offers new low in campaign finance"
.
The News & Observer
.
↑
Fung, Katherine (January 22, 2021).
"Trump rally organizers received millions from re-election campaign before Capitol riot"
.
Newsweek
.
↑
"Funders"
.
OpenSecrets
.
↑
Schuman, Daniel
(December 16, 2024).
"Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They're Needed Most"
.
The Bulwark
.
↑
"OpenSecrets.org"
.
Candid
. July 5, 2017.
↑
Luzer, Daniel (May 20, 2011).
"OpenSecrets.org"
.
Columbia Journalism Review
.
1
2
McGovern, Geoffrey; Greenberg, Michael D. (2014).
"Shining a Light on State Campaign Finance: An Evaluation of the Impact of the National Institute on Money in State Politics"
.
RAND Corporation
.
JSTOR
10.7249/j.ctt14bs1xp.8
.
↑
Pero, Dan (October 6, 2011).
"Soros vs. American courts"
.
The Washington Times
.
↑
"Our Team"
. OpenSecrets.
External links
[
edit
]
Official website
"OpenSecrets"
. Internal Revenue Service filings.
ProPublica
Nonprofit Explorer
.
Charity Navigator rating
GuideStar profile
FollowTheMoney.org
Retrieved from "
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OpenSecrets&oldid=1365217461
"
Categories
:
American organizations established in 1983
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Lobbying in the United States
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This page was last edited on 21 July 2026, at 01:32
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