The Sunlight Foundation

A family affair: Jeb and Hillary's Election 2016 fundraising, mapped

Over the 2016 cycle, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush have benefitted from at least 446 political fundraisers. We analyzed and visualized their most popular places to break bread with big donors.

Give a little sunlight on #GivingTuesday

At Sunlight, we strive to make our government transparent and accountable. But because our work as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization is funded by contributions, we need your help to realize our vision of open government. That’s why we’re writing to ask you to give a little sunlight today in honor of #GivingTuesday.

Contribute $10, $25, $50 or more to Sunlight for #GivingTuesday today.

#GivingTuesday is an occasion dedicated to inspiring individuals, communities and businesses to give back and to raise awareness about their favorite charities and causes. With the holiday season truly underway, there is no better way to put the “giving” back in the giving season than by supporting the nonprofits that you care about most.

So we’re humbly asking you to support the cause of open government this #GivingTuesday with a donation to Sunlight. Any amount is appreciated!

(....We'd be excited if you did!)

Inside the Clinton Donor Network

41 years. $3 billion. The Clinton’s fundraising operation has no equal. 

@washingtonpost delves inside the unparalleled Clinton donor network — trying to identify every known donor who contributed to support Bill and Hillary Clinton over their four decades in public life.

Sunlight Policy Analyst LaVita Tuff spoke at today’s TEDx event in Jackson, Miss., showing folks the transformative power of open data. Way to go, Tuff! 

Learn how Sunlight’s expanding the use of open data within cities across America through the What Works Cities initiative.

HEY! HEY! OVER HERE!

During yesterday’s GOP debate, Fox Business put up this graphic highlighting the biggest issues for debate viewers. “Campaign finance” was one of the most important topics — but money in politics didn’t even get a single mention during the debate. Others shared our discontent:

Voters deserve to know where 2016 candidates stand on campaign finance, Democrats and Republicans alike. It's time to start asking some real, substantive questions on these issues — and we've got a few to start off with:

7 essential questions on open government, including FOIA, open data and more.

6 essential questions on money in politics, including super PACs, Citizens United and dark money.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)

Let’s see if you can spot the difference. (Don’t worry, we made it easy.) Here’s a super PAC disclosure form...

Aaaaaand here’s a dark money group’s disclosure form:

Notice anything different?

A look at who is bankrolling the 2016 election — and at which candidates are benefiting most from the biggest donations

FEC overhauls website to make it easier to track campaign money

Legislation is often written on a lobbyist’s desk — and this new dataviz tool proves it. (via FastCo.Exist)

Corporate money easily finds its way into Argentina's elections

With elections in Argentina happening on Sunday, Sunlight explored the data on political contributions to see how money is influencing Argentine politics. What did we find?

While prohibited on paper, corporate money easily slithers its way to political campaigns and, even more striking, is still included in official reports. Will 2015 be different?

It's been 4 years since Stephen Colbert created a super PAC — where did all that money go?

Stephen Colbert raised $1.2 million dollars for his super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. But what the heck happened to all that money?

Design: When everyone's designing (A pre-book review)

Ezio Manzini, a leading thinker in design for social impact and sustainability, is on tour. His new book, Design when everybody designs: An introduction to design for social innovation, explores what it means to design in a world where everyone can participate and design is being largely welcomed as a powerful tool for change.

I attended his lecture at MICA last week and left with book in hand and these notes:

Consider the dynamics of social innovation and the momentum of capitalism.

Design is a spirit of the age

Always ask how the problem can be an asset

We may not all be gardening on our roofs, but local/focused experiments are prototypes of the future.

Consider the power of distributed systems

A place is a space with meaning

Our society has a crisis of trust

How can you advocate for change without metrics? Prevent vs Repair