Editing OpenSecrets

{{Short description|Government watchdog group based in the US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = OpenSecrets
| logo                     = OpenSecrets logo.svg
| founded_date             = {{start date and age|1983}}<ref name=founding>{{Cite book | last=Harvey | first=Kerric | title=Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics | publisher=[[Sage Publishing]] | date=January 2014 | isbn=9781452290263 | page=252}}</ref>
| founders                 = {{ubl|[[Frank Church]]|[[Hugh Scott]]}}
| merger                   = Center for Responsive Politics<br/>National Institute on Money in Politics
| type                     = [[Research]]
| tax_id                   = 52-1275227<ref name=Form990/>
| status                   = [[501(c)(3)]]<ref name=Form990/>
| focus                    = [[Campaign finance in the United States]]
| location                 = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| coordinates              = {{Coord|38.9037|-77.0300|type:landmark_region:US-DC|display=inline, title}}
| area_served              = [[United States]]
| leader_name              = Bert Brandenburg<ref name="board">{{Cite web  | url=https://www.opensecrets.org/about//board |title=OpenSecrets: Board of Directors | work=OpenSecrets}}</ref>
| leader_title             = [[Chairman|Chair]], [[Board of directors]]
| leader_name2             = Hilary Braseth (December 2023 – present)<ref name=newexec>{{Cite web | title=OpenSecrets Welcomes Hilary Braseth as New Executive Director
|url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/12/opensecrets-welcomes-hilary-braseth-as-new-executive-director}}</ref><ref name=leave/>
| leader_title2            = [[Executive director]]
| revenue                  = $2.5 million<ref name=Form990/>
| revenue_year             = 2023
| expenses                 = $4.3 million<ref name=Form990/>
| expenses_year            = 2023
| employees                = 
| employees_year           = 
| website                  = {{URL|https://www.opensecrets.org/}}
}}
'''OpenSecrets''' is a [[nonprofit organization]] based in [[Washington, D.C.]], that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a [[Revolving door (politics)|revolving door]] database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbying firms]] and may have [[conflicts of interest]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWwSDAAAQBAJ | last=Wiist | first=William | title=The Bottom Line or Public Health: Tactics Corporations Use to Influence Health and Health Policy, and What We Can Do to Counter Them | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | date=March 3, 2010 | isbn=9780199704927 | page=149}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/ | title=Revolving Door | work=OpenSecrets}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://truthout.org/articles/over-500-former-government-officials-are-now-lobbying-for-defense-contractors/ | title=Over 500 Former Government Officials Are Now Lobbying for Defense Contractors | first=Taylor | last=Giorno | work=[[Truthout]] | date=May 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/06/12/lobbying-politics-washington-congress-elaine-chao-department-transportation | title=Reporting Raises Questions About Washington's Potential Political Conflicts Of Interest | work=[[WBUR-FM]] | date=June 12, 2019}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Drake | first=Philip | title=Helena-based political transparency group merges with another watchdog | work=[[Helena Independent Record]] | url=https://helenair.com/news/local/helena-based-political-transparency-group-merges-with-another-watchdog/article_aef2efe9-c615-57ab-9112-12cba2093321.html | date=June 3, 2021 | url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.cjr.org/news_startups_guide/2012/04/national-institute-on-money-in-state-politics.php | last=O'Connor | first=Maura | title=National Institute on Money in State Politics | work=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] | date=April 4, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://publicintegrity.org/politics/lax-state-rules-provide-cover-for-sponsors-of-attack-ads/ | last=Suderman | first=Alan | title=Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads | work=[[Center for Public Integrity]] | date=May 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/florida-group-wants-to-end-caps-on-campaign-donations/2013/01/23/8bbab36a-658e-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html | last=Farnam | first=T.W. | title=Florida group wants to end caps on campaign donations | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=January 23, 2013 | url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.startribune.com/money-in-state-politics-report-minnesota-fails-disclosure-test-again/284635911/ | last=Stassen-Berger | first=Rachel | title=Money in State Politics report: Minnesota fails disclosure test, again | work=[[Minneapolis Star-Tribune]] | date=December 3, 2014 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>

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]],<ref>{{Cite news | title=Carolina Rising offers new low in campaign finance | url=https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article41576454.html | work=[[The News & Observer]] | last=Maguire | first=Robert | date=October 27, 2015}}</ref> and that the [[Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign]] was financially related to the rally that preceded the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.newsweek.com/trump-rally-organizers-received-millions-re-election-campaign-before-capitol-riot-1563818 | title=Trump rally organizers received millions from re-election campaign before Capitol riot | last=Fung | first=Katherine | work=[[Newsweek]] | date=January 22, 2021 | url-access=limited}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.opensecrets.org/about/funders | title=Funders | work=OpenSecrets}}</ref> In 2023, the organization reported $2.5 million in revenue and $4.3 million in expenses.<ref name="Form990">{{cite web |title=Opensecrets - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521275227 |website=ProPublica |access-date=27 December 2024 |language=en |date=9 May 2013}}</ref> In 2024, having serious financial difficulties, OpenSecrets laid off a third of its staff.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schuman |first1=Daniel |author-link1=Daniel Schuman |title=Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They’re Needed Most |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/open-government-nonprofits-are-dying-off-just-when-needed-most |work=[[The Bulwark (website)|The Bulwark]] |date=16 December 2024}}</ref>

==History==
===Center for Responsive Politics===
The '''Center for Responsive Politics''' was founded in 1983 by retired U.S. Senators [[Frank Church]] of [[Idaho]], of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], and [[Hugh Scott]] of [[Pennsylvania]], of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref name=founding/> 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 [[Campaign finance in the United States#"Soft" money/Independent expenditure|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.<ref name=founding/><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/features/on-the-web/opensecrets.org | title=OpenSecrets.org | work=[[Candid (organization)|Candid]] | date=July 5, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cjr.org/news_startups_guide/2011/05/opensecretsorg.php/ | title=OpenSecrets.org | first=Daniel | last=Luzer | website=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] | date=May 20, 2011}}</ref>

===National Institute on Money in Politics===
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.<ref name=impact>{{Cite web | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt14bs1xp.8 | title=Shining a Light on State Campaign Finance: An Evaluation of the Impact of the National Institute on Money in State Politics | publisher=[[RAND Corporation]] | first1=Geoffrey | last1=McGovern
| first2=Michael D. | last2=Greenberg | year=2014| jstor=10.7249/j.ctt14bs1xp.8 }}</ref>

The organization did not receive any government funding and relied on philanthropic efforts;<ref name=impact/> among its donations received was $2.3 million in funding from [[Open Society Foundations]].<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/6/soros-vs-american-courts/ | title=Soros vs. American courts | last=Pero | first=Dan | work=[[The Washington Times]] | date=October 6, 2011}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=November 2024}}

===Leadership history===
[[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.<ref name=ourteam>{{Cite web | title=Our Team |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/about/staff | publisher=OpenSecrets}}</ref><ref name=leave>{{Cite press release | url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/05/press-release-executive-director-sheila-krumholz-to-leave-opensecrets-later-this-year/ | title=Press Release: Executive Director Sheila Krumholz to Leave Open Secrets | publisher=OpenSecrets | date=May 9, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Institute for Nonprofit News]] (member)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|521275227}}
* [https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/521275227 Charity Navigator rating]
* [https://www.guidestar.org/profile/52-1275227 GuideStar profile]
* [https://www.followthemoney.org/ FollowTheMoney.org]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Government watchdog groups in the United States]]
[[Category:Lobbying in the United States]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Open government in the United States]]