Methodology

Here’s how I Am Democracy will source and categorize campaign-finance data once the pipeline is live. Everything below is the plan — nothing here is operational yet.

Where the data will come from

• FEC.gov — federal candidate and committee filings
• OpenSecrets — aggregated donor and industry data
• State filing offices — state and local races the FEC doesn’t cover

How funding will be categorized

• Small-dollar — contributions of $200 or less (≤$200)
• Large donor — itemized individual contributions above the small-dollar threshold
• PAC — political action committee money
• Dark money — 501(c)(4) and other untraceable contributions

How often it will refresh

Our refresh target is daily. As new filings post, the cards will update — no waiting for an exposé or an election-season scramble.

About the samples on this site

The candidate cards and district lookup on our homepage are illustrative mockups, not live lookups. The names, grades, and funding breakdowns shown today are sample data used to demonstrate the design.

When the pipeline is live, every card will carry a verification badge and a link to the source filing.