What Open The Books does

Open The Books (legal name: American Transparency) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 by Adam Andrzejewski to provide public access to disclosed government spending data. The organization operates what it describes as the largest private database of public spending, aggregating nearly 5 billion public expenditure records covering federal salaries, line-by-line federal spending, all 50 state checkbooks, state and local salaries and pensions, and vendor payments across more than 17,000 municipalities. The data pipeline is built on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) infrastructure spanning 60,000+ filed requests, with 25 million public salary and pension records collected in a single year. The platform is delivered as a free, open-access website at openthebooks.com with native mobile applications for iOS and Android, allowing any taxpayer, journalist, researcher, or activist to search government spending records directly. The organization also publishes investigative reports, interactive maps, and a Substack newsletter focused on exposing waste, fraud, abuse, and self-dealing in government.

The organization serves a horizontal audience of general taxpayers, journalists, policy researchers, activists, and public officials, with no paid customer tiers; all content, database search, and reports are freely accessible. Revenue is generated entirely through individual charitable donations via an Everyday Giving Campaign offering one-time, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, and weekly giving frequencies, and the organization explicitly states it accepts no government funding. The go-to-market motion is product-led and community-led: open access drives top-of-funnel awareness, a 30-strong team of public accountability journalists and data scientists produces content that drives earned media and Congressional citations, and petition campaigns convert awareness into advocacy action. Headquartered in The Villages, Florida, the organization is currently led by CEO John Hart and Executive Chairman Craig Mijares following the 2025 death of founder Adam Andrzejewski.

Name

Open The Books

Legal name

American Transparency

Website

https://openthebooks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open The Books is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates the largest private database of public spending, with nearly 5 billion expenditure records spanning federal, state, and 17,000+ municipal levels, serving journalists, researchers, activists, and taxpayers via free open access.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Transparency Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Transparency Portals & Open Data Reporting (EDADAIAN)

Keywords

• Government spending database
• Public expenditure records
• FOIA data collection
• Government salary search
• Civic transparency platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Hinsdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Open The Books is funded entirely by individual donations. The organization explicitly states it accepts no government funding. Donations are tax-deductible for federal and state income tax purposes. The organization runs an Everyday Giving Campaign with options for one-time, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, and weekly donation frequencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Open The Books operates a free, publicly searchable database of government spending, public employee salaries, pensions, and vendor payments across federal, state, and local agencies, complemented by original investigative reports on waste, fraud, and abuse. The organization files tens of thousands of FOIA requests to build and continuously expand this dataset, and delivers findings through interactive maps, mobile apps, and a Substack publication.

Product overview

Open The Books operates a comprehensive government transparency platform that aggregates and publishes public spending data. The core offering is its searchable database containing nearly 5 billion spending records covering federal expenditures, all 50 state checkbooks, and millions of state-level salaries and pension records across more than 17,000 municipalities. The platform integrates investigative journalism capabilities through exclusive oversight reports, interactive mapping tools for visualizing fiscal data, and mobile applications for iOS and Android. Users can search salary and pension databases, explore government checkbook records showing vendor payments, and access published investigative reports on waste, fraud, and abuse across all levels of government.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Open The Books Database The core transparency platform providing freely searchable access to government spending records, public sector salaries, pensions, and vendor payments across federal, state, and local levels, covering all 50 states and 17,000+ municipalities.
• Investigative Reports Exclusive oversight reports exposing waste, fraud, and abuse at every level of government, produced by the organization's team of public accountability journalists and available for free as PDF downloads.
• Interactive Maps Geographic visualization tools mapping government spending, fraud cases, and other fiscal data across U.S. states and municipalities.
• Mobile Applications Native mobile apps for iPhone/iPad and Android devices providing on-the-go access to the Open The Books database and its features.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tens of thousands of media mentions annually; cited in dozens of Congressional hearings, oversight letters, and bill introductions each year

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• State Financial Officers FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner in analyzing Education Department OIG reports. The coalition analyzed OIG reports from October 2019 to March 2026 to uncover approximately $225 million in alleged K-12 education fraud across 24 states and Puerto Rico.
• U.S. Office of Management and BudgetminorOthersData source for government spending information. Material on the website comes from a number of sources obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, including the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• InfluenceExplorer (FollowTheMoney.org): National Institute on Money in Politics database tracking campaign contributions and lobbying across all 50 states. Comparable as a multi-state, public-records transparency database serving journalists and researchers, though focused on political money rather than government spending.
• USAFacts: Nonpartisan nonprofit providing accessible data on government spending, revenue, and outcomes. Directly comparable to Open The Books as a public-facing, donation-supported platform that aggregates federal/state/local fiscal data and publishes analyses for taxpayers and journalists.
• ProPublica: Investigative journalism nonprofit producing accountability reporting on government and institutions. Comparable on the journalism side — donor-funded, nonpartisan-leaning investigations that surface government waste and abuse — though ProPublica's scope is broader than fiscal transparency alone.
• Project on Government Oversight (POGO): Nonpartisan independent watchdog investigating government corruption, waste, and abuse. Directly comparable in mission and donor-funded advocacy structure, with overlapping audience of journalists, researchers, and engaged citizens.
• OpenSecrets (Center for Responsive Politics): Nonpartisan nonprofit tracking money in U.S. politics and government. Closely comparable to Open The Books as a donor-funded transparency platform compiling public records (campaign finance, lobbying, contractor data) into searchable databases used by journalists and researchers.

Broad incumbents

• USAspending.gov: Official U.S. federal spending database operated by the Department of the Treasury. Highly comparable as a government spending transparency portal serving journalists, researchers, and the public, though it focuses on federal awards and contracts rather than the full federal/state/local sweep Open The Books aggregates.

Emerging players

• The Marshall Project: Nonprofit investigative news outlet covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Comparable as a donor-funded investigative journalism nonprofit, though its domain (criminal justice) does not overlap Open The Books' fiscal-transparency focus.
• LittleSis (Public Accountability Initiative): Free database of who's who in U.S. politics — tracking power networks, corporate ownership, and government connections. Comparable as a free, donor-supported, FOIA-driven transparency database aimed at journalists and activists, though narrower in scope than Open The Books' spending focus.
• GovTrack: Independent civic-tech project tracking the U.S. Congress — bills, votes, and legislators. Comparable as a public-records aggregation and transparency tool for government activity, though it focuses on legislative rather than expenditure data.

Others

• InfluenceMap: Nonprofit think tank tracking corporate influence over climate and energy policy. Adjacent peer as a donor-funded transparency organization publishing data-driven investigations; weak direct overlap but similar operating model and stakeholder audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/open_the_books
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCjK7gBT5Ub0Srl-6zZBnuRw
• Facebookfacebook.com/openthebooks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/openthebooks
• Instagraminstagram.com/openthebooks/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Open The Books