Frequently Asked Questions

DonorWatch.org is an informational research platform that makes public federal campaign-contribution records easier to search and review. The contribution data displayed by DonorWatch is sourced from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

DonorWatch.org is open to everyone, including citizens, journalists, researchers, students, and anyone interested in researching publicly available federal campaign-finance records.

You can search contribution records using criteria such as contributor name, recipient committee, city, state, ZIP code, employer, occupation, date, amount, and election cycle. Results can include contributor and recipient information, contribution amount, receipt date, and a link to the underlying FEC filing when an image is available.

Enter one or more criteria in the search form, such as contributor name, city, state, employer, or occupation. Advanced filters let you narrow the search by date, contribution amount, and election cycle.

Yes. On each results page you can filter the displayed records by contributor name, city, and state, and sort the displayed records by name, city, state, or contribution date.

DonorWatch will tell you when no contributions match the selected criteria. Try removing or broadening one or more filters and search again.

Contribution data is retrieved from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). DonorWatch provides an independent interface for exploring those public records.

DonorWatch requests contribution records from the FEC when you search. Availability and timing of records therefore depend on the FEC data and its update schedule.

When the FEC record includes an image number, DonorWatch provides a View FEC filing link so you can open the underlying filing for verification.

No. The current DonorWatch experience does not require registration or login. Searching and viewing available public FEC records is open to all visitors.

Not in the current release. DonorWatch has removed the account requirement so visitors can search public records without creating or maintaining a DonorWatch account.

First refresh the page. If the issue persists, contact support@donorwatch.org and include the page you were using and a brief description of what happened.

Contact feedback@donorwatch.org with the relevant record details. Because DonorWatch displays FEC data, you may also want to verify the underlying FEC filing linked from the result.

DonorWatch should be accessed over HTTPS so information exchanged with the site is encrypted in transit.

No. The current release does not provide user accounts or saved-search functionality.