Methodology

PowerMap aggregates data from multiple authoritative public sources:

• FEC Filings — All federal campaign finance reports, including individual contributions, PAC expenditures, and independent expenditure reports. Updated within 24 hours of filing.
• Senate Lobbying Disclosures — Quarterly LD-2 reports and LD-203 political contribution disclosures from registered lobbyists.
• IRS 990 Forms — Tax returns from 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) organizations that engage in political activity, used to trace dark money flows.
• FARA Registrations — Foreign Agents Registration Act filings revealing foreign government influence campaigns.
• USAspending.gov — Federal contract and grant data cross-referenced with donor and lobbying activity.

Political finance data is messy. The same person or organization may appear under dozens of variations. We use a multi-step entity resolution process:

1. Standardize names, addresses, and employer information
2. Match entities across datasets using fuzzy matching and unique identifiers (FEC IDs, EINs)
3. Manual review of high-value or ambiguous matches
4. Continuous updates as new filings arrive

Our power network visualizations are built by tracing financial connections:

• Direct contributions from donors to candidates and PACs
• PAC-to-PAC transfers and bundling relationships
• Lobbying firm-client relationships
• Corporate board and employment connections (revolving door)
• Shared organizational affiliations and donor networks

Connections are weighted by financial value and recency, with thresholds to filter noise.

The Billionaire Influence Index uses a composite score (0–100) based on:

• Direct spending (30%) — Total political contributions and independent expenditures
• Network reach (25%) — Number of funded candidates, PACs, and organizations
• Government access (20%) — Positions held, allies in office, White House visits
• Policy impact (15%) — Legislative and regulatory wins aligned with donor interests
• Contract leverage (10%) — Government contracts to donor-affiliated companies

Dark money — political spending where the original source is hidden — is traced through:

• IRS 990 Schedule I grants between nonprofits
• FEC independent expenditure reports from 501(c)(4) organizations
• State-level disclosure reports where available
• Investigative reporting and court filings

When we cannot identify the ultimate source, we label it clearly and assign a "dark money score" indicating opacity level.

We believe in transparency about our own limitations:

• Dark money is by definition hard to trace — our figures represent best estimates
• Lobbying disclosures have known compliance gaps
• Some data has inherent reporting delays (quarterly or annual filings)
• Entity resolution is imperfect and may occasionally misattribute contributions
• Influence scoring involves editorial judgment about factor weighting

Data is refreshed continuously as new filings become available. If you spot an error, please contact us at info@thedataproject.ai. We take accuracy seriously and will correct verified errors promptly.