Center for Responsive Politics (Open Secrets)

The Center for Responsive Politics operates OpenSecrets, an online web page used to compile political financial data such as campaign contribution profiles of members of Congress, a lobbying database, and financial information related to Congressional committees. ^{3 4}

Background

Formed in 1983, the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) was created to track money in politics by analyzing contributions from political action committees (PACs) to congressional candidates and by compiling data and publishing large reports. ² By 1990, the CRP published the first OpenSecrets book that documented and analyzed congressional political contributions in the 1988 elections. ² In addition to analyzing political contributions from PACs, the book also reported on the spending patterns of interest groups and companies within major industries. ²

CRP’s main project, OpenSecrets.org, went online following the 1996 elections. ² The website later began producing online contribution profiles prior to Election Day for federal candidates in the 1998 elections. ²

OpenSecrets.org

As of 2018, OpenSecrets includes contribution profiles for members of Congress as well as information on their personal finances,³ money spent on their campaigns by joint fundraising committees,⁴ and a lobbying database.⁵

Politicians & Elections

OpenSecrets shows political contributions from campaign committees, outside groups, lobbyists, and Super PACs to candidates in Presidential and Congressional races. In addition, OpenSecrets amasses the financial information and disclosures for the Trump administration. ⁶ Financial summaries for political parties and party committees are also included on the site and display the contributions made to the party, the recipients of the party’s expenditures, and a geographic analysis of expenditures. ⁷ OpenSecrets also publishes an election overview online that includes general trends from elections, the most expensive races, and top donors. Election overviews are available online for all federal elections dating back to 1990. ⁸

Influence & Lobbying

OpenSecrets also provides data on spending by interest groups. The site provides data by sector and issue type for all elections since 1990. ⁹ In addition, OpenSecrets includes a lobbying database that aggregates data on top lobbyists and top lobbying firms from certain election cycles and groups, as well as data on specific bills that lobbyists reported lobbying on. ¹⁰

In addition to political finance data collections, OpenSecrets also maintains an independent news platform called OpenSecrets News¹¹ and also publishes independent reports. ¹² Additionally, the CRP’s OpenData initiative allows for the non-commercial use of CRP’s archive of money-in-politics data. ¹³

Leadership

Founders

The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) was founded in 1983 by then-Senators Frank Church and Hugh Scott. Senator Church was a Democratic Senator from Idaho who served in the U.S. Senate for 24 years. ¹⁴ Senator Scott was a moderate Republican politician from Pennsylvania who served in both the U.S House and U.S. Senate. ¹⁵

Directors

Hilary Braseth is the Executive Director of Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). Braseth previously held positions at IDEO and the left-of-center Aspen Institute. Braseth previously co-founded two organizations focused on entrepreneurship and digital infrastructure in West Africa. ¹⁶

Board Members

Daniel Doktori is the Chair of the OpenSecrets Board of Directors. Doktori is also the SVP & General Counsel at American Public Media Group (APMG). Prior to working at APMG, Doktori served as Chief of Staff and General Counsel at digital marketing company Credly. ¹⁷

Financials

According to its 2023 990 form, the Center for Responsive Politics reported a revenue of $2,504,743, expenses of $4,303,121, and total assets of $4,182,944. ¹⁸

Funding

Between 2017 and 2018, the CRP received over $100,000 in funding from several left-of-center organizations including Democracy Fund, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ¹⁹