Type Research Location Washington, D.C. Founder Frank Church Motto Money Talks. We Translate | Focus Money in politics Area served United States Founded 1983 Revenue 1.726 million USD (2013) | |
 | ||
Key people Sheila Krumholz, Executive Director Slogan Money Talks. We Translate. Similar Sunlight Foundation, Project Vote Smart, Center for Public Integrity, Public Citizen, National Rifle Association Profiles | ||
Sheila krumholz dir center for responsive politics
The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C., that tracks the effects of money and lobbying on elections and public policy. It maintains a public online database of its information.
Contents
Its website, OpenSecrets.org, allows users to track federal campaign contributions and lobbying by lobbying firms, individual lobbyists, industry, federal agency, and bills. Other resources include the personal financial disclosures of all members of the U.S. Congress, the president, and top members of the administration. Users can also search by ZIP codes to learn how their neighbors are allocating their political contributions.
History
CRP was founded in 1983 by retired U.S. Senators Frank Church of Idaho, a Democrat, and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, a Republican. In the 1980s, Church and Scott launched a "money-in-politics" project, whose outcome consisted of large, printed books. Their first book, published in 1988, analyzed spending patterns in congressional elections from 1974 through 1986, including 1986 soft money contributions in five states. It was titled Spending in Congressional Elections: A Never-Ending Spiral.
Activities
In 1996, CRP launched its online counterpart, OpenSecrets.org. The website is a clearinghouse for data and analysis regarding money in politics.
CRP hosts a Revolving Door database which documents the individuals who have passed between the public sector and K Street.
CRP has been critical of Carolina Rising, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that reported spending $4.7 million in 2014 on advertisements supportive of Thom Tillis, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate from North Carolina.
Funding
Major donors to the Center for Responsive Politics include the Sunlight Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Open Society Institute, the Joyce Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. At the end of 2013, the organization reported $1.56 million in annual revenue and $2.78 million in assets.
Staff
Sheila Krumholz has been the CRP's executive director since December 2006, having previously served for eight years as the CRP's research director. She first joined the organization in 1989 and served as the assistant editor of the first edition of the printed volume Open Secrets.