Campaign Finance Institute

What Campaign Finance Institute does

The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) was a non-partisan 501(c)(3) research organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Washington DC, focused on objective analysis of money in U.S. politics. Its core products consisted of the 'Guide to Money in Federal Elections' — a longitudinal reference covering presidential, congressional, party, PAC, and independent spending data since 1974 — and the 'Historical Database of State Campaign Finance Laws,' an interactive web-based tool covering all 50 states' campaign finance laws every two years since 1996 with visualization and downloadable dataset features. Additional offerings included the Small Donor Project research initiative, periodic research and analysis reports, downloadable historical data tables, and the Citizens Policy Tool for citizen-facing engagement on small-dollar donor policies.

CFI operated a small two-person research team led by co-founder and Professor of Political Science Michael J. Malbin (University at Albany, SUNY) and Senior Data Analyst Brendan Glavin, supported entirely by charitable donations and grants from foundations including Carnegie Corporation of New York, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Democracy Fund, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Bridgewood Fieldwater Foundation, and James Irvine Foundation. All research, databases, and publications were distributed free of charge through the website as a public good, with no commercial revenue model. Distribution channels were self-serve — free PDF downloads, Excel datasets, interactive web visualizations, email newsletter, and Twitter — targeting academic researchers, journalists, policymakers, and the general public.

In July 2018, CFI ceased operating as an independent organization and became a division within the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). In June 2021, NIMP merged with the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) to form OpenSecrets, where CFI's research and data products continue to be maintained under a unified platform, with the original cfinst.org website archived at the University at Albany.

Name

Campaign Finance Institute

Legal name

The Campaign Finance Institute

Website

https://cfinst.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Campaign Finance Institute is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) research institute that produced free, longitudinal analysis of U.S. campaign finance data and laws at the federal and state level for academic, journalistic, policy, and public audiences. It operated as a two-person research team funded entirely by charitable foundations and is now a division of OpenSecrets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Campaign Finance Research and Transparency

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAIAEAH

Financial Risk, Controls & Audit (Public Sector)

Business & Public Services/Public Sector & Government Administration/Public Finance, Treasury & Procurement

Keywords

• Campaign finance research
• Money in politics
• Political transparency data
• Election finance analysis
• Small donor research

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations and Grants: CFI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded entirely by charitable foundations and individual donors. No commercial revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) conducts non-partisan research and produces authoritative publications, historical databases, and interactive data tools on U.S. campaign finance at federal and state levels. Its core offerings include the Guide to Money in Federal Elections covering presidential, congressional, party, and independent spending data since 1974, and the Historical Database of State Campaign Finance Laws covering all 50 states biennially since 1996.

Product overview

The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) is a non-partisan research organization that serves as the nation's preeminent think tank on money in politics. CFI's product portfolio consists of research publications (notably the 'Guide to Money in Federal Elections'), interactive databases (the Historical Database of State Campaign Finance Laws), data tables, the Small Donor Project research initiative, and the Citizens Policy Tool. These offerings work together to provide comprehensive campaign finance transparency through downloadable reports, interactive visualizations, and searchable databases covering federal and state elections from 1974 to present.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CFI's Guide to Money in Federal Elections Comprehensive reference publication covering money in federal elections since 1974, including presidential elections, congressional elections, political parties, and independent spending. Contains essays, historical tables, and downloadable spreadsheet files. Targeted at scholars, journalists, policymakers, and the public.
• Historical Database of State Campaign Finance Laws Interactive and downloadable database covering all 50 states' campaign finance laws every two years since 1996. Features visualization tools, downloadable datasets, and query results exportable to spreadsheets. Used by academic researchers, policymakers, and journalists to compare state-level campaign finance rules.
• Small Donor Project Multi-year research initiative studying the role of small donors, large donors, and non-donors in state and national elections, examining motivations, mobilization methods, Internet role, and relationship between giving and other forms of political participation. Targeted at researchers and policymakers interested in small donor policy reform.
• Research and Analysis Reports Periodic analyses, reports, papers, and book chapters examining interest group activity, political parties, congressional and presidential fundraising, and campaign finance trends. Targeted at academic, media, and policy audiences.
• Historical Campaign Finance Data Downloadable historical data tables covering federal election cycles dating back to 1974, including presidential, congressional, party finances, and independent expenditure statistics. Used for empirical research and policy analysis.
• Citizens Policy Tool Interactive citizen tool enabling everyday citizens to see how small-dollar donor policies can shift incentives to encourage more candidate-to-voter interactions. Targeted at the general public to make campaign finance research accessible.

Quantifiable outcome

• Independent spending in congressional elections by non-party spenders was 25 times higher in 2018 than 2008, following Citizens United
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• Center for Responsive Politics (CRP)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2021In June 2021, NIMP (which included CFI) merged with the Center for Responsive Politics to form OpenSecrets. This combined the campaign finance data expertise of both organizations under a unified platform.
• National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2018In July 2018, CFI became a division within the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). NIMP had been promoting accountable democracy for nearly two decades by compiling campaign-donor, lobbyist, and other information from all fifty states and federal government. CFI joined NIMP to integrate data, experience, knowledge, and skills for expanded research capabilities.
• The George Washington UniversityminorOthers · 1 January 1999CFI was temporarily hosted by The George Washington University for one year after founding in 1999, before receiving its independent IRS designation in 2000.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• OpenSecrets (Center for Responsive Politics): OpenSecrets is the merged entity that absorbed CFI in June 2021. It is the largest US campaign finance disclosure platform, providing federal and state contribution data, lobbying records, and analysis — directly overlapping CFI's historical research and data product set.
• National Institute on Money in Politics (FollowTheMoney.org): FollowTheMoney.org compiles campaign-donor, lobbyist, and other data from all fifty states and the federal government. It absorbed CFI in 2018 before merging into OpenSecrets, and overlaps directly on state-level campaign finance data aggregation and visualization.

Direct peers

• MapLight: MapLight is a nonpartisan research organization that reveals the influence of money in politics by connecting campaign contributions to legislative votes. It is a direct peer in the money-in-politics research space with comparable data products and policy analysis.
• IssueOne: Issue One is a cross-partisan political reform organization focused on money-in-politics, lobbying, and ethics reforms. It conducts research and advocates for campaign finance policy reforms, overlapping CFI's policy analysis work.
• Common Cause: Common Cause is a grassroots democracy organization with a long-standing focus on campaign finance reform and government accountability. It conducts research and policy advocacy in the same domain as CFI.
• Sunlight Foundation: Sunlight Foundation focuses on government transparency, including political money and lobbying disclosure. It produces data tools and policy research comparable to CFI's offerings on money in politics.
• RepresentUs: RepresentUs is a national anti-corruption organization working on campaign finance reform and election integrity. It engages in research and advocacy overlapping with CFI's money-in-politics policy focus.

Others

• Federal Election Commission (FEC): The FEC is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign finance law. CFI's research is built on FEC disclosure data, making the FEC a key upstream data source and ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• Ballotpedia: Ballotpedia is a nonpartisan digital encyclopedia covering American politics including elections, candidates, and ballot measures. It increasingly covers campaign finance and is a partial-overlap peer in election-related data and research.
• Transparency International U.S. Transparency International is a global anti-corruption coalition with US activities on political finance integrity. While internationally focused, its US advocacy and research on money in politics overlaps thematically with CFI's mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cfinst_org
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/campaign-finance-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Campaign Finance Institute