Campaign donations: how to read FEC data
Federal campaigns and political committees must report their donors to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), naming everyone who gives more than $200. Companies cannot give to candidates directly, so a company's "donations" on any website are the combined gifts of people who listed that company as their employer.
In brief
- Donors above $200 are listed by name, with their employer and occupation.
- An individual may give a candidate $3,500 per election in 2025–2026.
- Corporations and unions may not give to federal candidates from their own funds.
- Reports are filed quarterly or monthly, so donations appear weeks or months later.
- This site shows totals by committee, employer and state, never individual donors.
What do campaigns have to disclose?
Every committee that raises money for a federal election files regular reports with the FEC. The reports list money in and money out. On the money-in side, any person whose gifts to that committee add up to more than $200 is "itemized": named, with their address, occupation, employer, the date and the amount.
Smaller gifts are reported only as a lump sum. That is why donor records skew towards larger givers: a campaign funded by many small gifts has few names to show.
How much can one person give?
For the 2025–2026 election cycle an individual may give $3,500 per election to a candidate (the primary and the general count separately), $5,000 a year to a political action committee, and $44,300 a year to a national party committee. The candidate and party limits are raised for inflation every two years; the FEC's chart has the current figures.
Can companies donate to candidates?
No. Federal law bars corporations and labor unions from giving their own money to federal candidates (who can and can't contribute). A company can sponsor a political action committee, funded by voluntary gifts from its employees and shareholders, and that committee can give within its own limits.
So when a table says "Acme Corp: $400,000", it means people who wrote "Acme Corp" in the employer box gave $400,000 between them. It is a fact about where donors work. It is not company money and not a decision by the company.
Employer names are typed by donors, so the same employer appears under many spellings, and "retired", "self-employed" and "not employed" are among the largest "employers" in any list.
What kinds of committees are there?
| Type | What it is |
|---|---|
| Principal campaign committee | The one official committee of a candidate. Its name includes the candidate's name. |
| PAC sponsored by a company, union or trade group | Raises money only from people connected to its sponsor and gives to candidates within limits. |
| Non-connected PAC | Has no sponsor and may ask the general public for money. |
| Super PAC | May take unlimited sums, including from companies and unions, but may not give to candidates; it spends independently. |
| Conduit | A platform that passes each donor's gift on to the committee the donor chose. ActBlue is the best-known example. |
Conduits matter when reading totals: the same dollar can appear once at the conduit and again at the campaign that finally received it.
How current is the data?
Not very. House and Senate campaigns report quarterly, due on the 15th of April, July and October and at the end of January, with extra reports close to an election. Many PACs and parties report monthly. A gift made at the start of a quarter can take about three and a half months to become public.
What does this site show?
Receipts of the main campaign committee of every current member of Congress and of the 200 largest PACs, summed by committee, by donor employer and by state. The donations page covers the last 90 days of receipts on file and says so on the page; it is a recent sample, not a campaign's lifetime total.
The site never lists individual donors. Federal law forbids using contributor details from FEC reports to ask for money or for commercial purposes (FEC guidance), and names of private citizens add nothing to the question this site asks, which is where the money comes from in aggregate. If you need an individual record, the FEC's own search has it.
Questions and answers
Can corporations donate to members of Congress?
No. Corporations and unions may not give their own funds to federal candidates. They can sponsor a PAC funded by voluntary gifts from employees and shareholders, and company totals on donation sites are sums of gifts from people who work there.
How much can an individual donate to a federal candidate?
For 2025–2026, $3,500 per election to a candidate, with the primary and the general counted separately.
Why does a donation take months to show up?
Because campaigns report on a schedule. House and Senate campaigns file quarterly, so a gift made early in a quarter can become public about three and a half months later.
Does Spot the Money show individual donors?
No. It shows totals by committee, by donor employer and by state. Individual records are available from the FEC's own search.
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